UPS (NYSE:UPS) today said it has enhanced its award-winning On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation (ORION) platform with Dynamic Optimization, which recalculates individual package delivery routes throughout the day as traffic conditions, pickup commitments and delivery orders change.

　　ORION, first deployed in 2012, provides drivers with the most efficient route for deliveries and pickups on more than 66,000 routes in the United States, Canada and Europe. In 2019, UPS added UPSNav to the ORION route guidance platform. UPSNav introduced detailed turn-by-turn directions to guide local delivery drivers, not just to addresses, but to specific package drop-off and pickup locations like loading docks that are not visible from the street.

　　The routing for UPSNav is based on the static ORION route drivers receive in the morning when starting their deliveries. Dynamic Optimization, the latest addition to the ORION platform, takes that benefit a big step further. It will update directions for drivers while they are on the road, based on changing conditions and commitments.

　　“ORION is purpose-built for local UPS delivery drivers, many of whom complete an average of 135 stops each day,” said Juan Perez, UPS chief information and engineering officer. “The new Dynamic Optimization component will improve the accuracy of UPS delivery time estimates and give our customers better visibility into their shipments.”

　　For years, ORION has generated valuable network efficiencies and fuel savings. It also provides the data that powers popular customer solutions like UPS My Choice® for home and UPS My Choice® for business, which gives users advance delivery notifications, estimated time of delivery and the ability for customers to select alternative package delivery locations.

　　Dynamic Optimization, which will roll out over 12 months, is part of the third generation of ORION. In addition to more accurate delivery time estimates, it will enable new products and services that require higher levels of accuracy, reliability and responsiveness. The new dynamic functionality will help drivers manage their daily commitments more effectively and efficiently and better meet customers’ needs, which often evolve by the hour. Finally, the enhanced routing tool will further reduce miles driven, fuel consumed and carbon emissions.

　　ORION is a proprietary technology that uses advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Since ORION’s initial deployment, it has saved UPS about 100 million miles and 10 million gallons of fuel per year. The latest enhancements will significantly improve upon those results.