Past Awards
UPS On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation (ORION) Project
UPS, the leading logistics provider in the world, and long known for its penchant for efficiency, embarked on a long journey to streamline and modernize its Pickup and Delivery Operations in 2003. This journey resulted in a suite of systems that are collectively known as Package Flow technologies (PFT), and an advanced optimization system known as ORION (On Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation). ORION uses the data foundation of PFT to provide an optimized manifest to its drivers so that they can meet the complex demands of providing service. Costing $250 million to build and deploy, ORION is expected to save UPS $300 to $400 million annually. By building efficient routes and reducing the miles driven, and fuel consumption, ORION also contributes to UPS’s sustainability efforts by reducing the CO2 emissions by 100,000 tons annually. ORION provides the foundation for a new generation of advanced planning systems for UPS. Because of its sheer size and scope, it has come to be regarded as one of the largest operations research projects in the world.