UPS and Google: to extend deal on Cloud service!
United Parcel Service Inc. set to announce an expansion of its 2019 deal with Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud
as the logistics company rolls out new data initiatives.
As part of the expansion,
UPS will receive increased network, storage and compute capacity.
It will continue using Google’s artificial-intelligence and machine-learning tools to analyze its incoming data, which is expected to surge with introducing initiatives such as putting radio-frequency identification chips on packages.
“The potential is unlimited,” Juan Perez, chief information and engineering officer at UPS, said about the expansion,
adding that UPS is facing a huge increase in incoming data, in part because of the sheer number of packages it delivers.
In 2021, it delivered more than 25 million packages a day, up from 24.7 million a day in 2020, a company spokesperson said.
*UPS Tweet on a deal reached
By expanding our use of Google Cloud, we can achieve a higher level of predictive data analytical capabilities, improving our customers’ experience and generating operational efficiencies while also helping to reduce our carbon footprint. https://t.co/E9UEelMDun
— UPS (@UPS) March 29, 2022
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RFID chips provides more detailed data about package locations, Mr. Perez said.
The initiative is in early stages, adding that the chips are now present on packages delivered with UPS’s Premiere level of service.
Kirsten Kliphouse,
president of Google Cloud for North America, said that the timing is right to expand the relationship between Google Cloud and UPS in part due to the increased data points coming out of UPS’s operations.
The C-19 pandemic, supply-chain disruptions and the rise in e-commerce all together,
have spurred logistics companies to seek more detailed data on things like locations of trucks and delivery routes, said Jordan Speer, a supply-chain research manager at International Data Corp.
