A Test for UPS: One Day, 34 Million Packages

United Parcel Service all year has been focused on one day above the rest: Monday Dec. 22, when it will deliver 34 million packages, more than any other in its history. To avoid a recurrence of 2013's costly holiday debacle, UPS has spent about $500 million preparing for the holidays with projects including automated sorting systems to rapidly identify ZIP codes and swiftly reroute packages in the event of bad weather. That automated system -- known as its “Next Generation Sort Aisle" -- is now operating at three hubs around the country. The new technology scans packages and quickly flashes instructions to workers so they can process 15 percent more packages a day, or as many as 47,000 parcels an hour, as measured at one of the hubs. Home delivery from online shopping has been a drag on UPS profitability in the US. And with e-commerce soon to account for half of all US packages, the company is trying to automate and digitize its operations to boost profitability and improve productivity.