UPS 2004 Annual Report Download - page 16

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 16 of the 2004 UPS annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 76

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76

14 UPS Annual Report 2004
Leading-edge technology is
a mandate for success
At UPS, technology powers every service and
solution the company offers and every operation it
performs. In fact, UPS invests more than $1 billion
annually in technology to support both customer-
facing solutions and internal operational systems
and processes.
Much of UPS’s technology helps customers
solve business process problems, which, in turn,
allows them to manage their businesses better.
This includes solutions that:
n Enable businesses to manage multiple locations
through one shipping system,
n Provide full visibility of a customer’s goods in
the supply chain, including inbound shipments,
n Support complete connectivity between UPS
customers and their customers and vendors,
n Streamline billing, customer inquiry, and cost
allocation processes,
n Speed the transfer of funds from a package or
shipment recipient to the seller, and
n Ease the complexities and reduce the costs
involved in transborder shipping.
UPS partners with customers to provide
seamless integration between the company’s global
infrastructure and the customer’s business processes.
This integration could be achieved through one of
UPS’s shipping, billing, or visibility systems. It might
include connectivity through one of over 200 partners
— such as Best Software’s Peachtree products and
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions — who offer access to
UPS shipping capabilities from within their products.
Or, where a customized solution is necessary, UPS
helps customers integrate the company’s on-line
capabilities into their own business systems to build
a solution uniquely geared to their needs. Connecting
customers to UPS through technology is a critical
element in the company’s growth strategy.
Technology plays just as important a role in
UPS’s internal operations as it does in customer
applications. Systems integration is crucial to UPS’s
global network. It enables an information-rich
transportation system that supports all types of
service — ground, air, commercial, residential,
domestic, international — through one driver.
The result is an integrated, global network with
unsurpassed visibility and reach.