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Intelligrated, a North American-owned automated material handling solutions provider, announces the relocation of its Dallas-based Southwest regional operations to expanded facilities in Coppell, Texas. The new facility marks a continuation of the company’s regional growth initiatives and follows several order wins. … RWI Transportation will increase its driver pay by two cents per loaded mile, with one cent linked to a new safety bonus program. … Federal Supply Services International and Flo-Pallet Inc. have joined the Reusable Packaging Association. … Kardex Remstar has revised its website, www.kardexrem-star.com. The newly revamped site is designed for ease of navigation. … Port Jersey Logistics, a public warehousing and distribution company, has donated use of a shipping trailer to the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). … Servigistics, a provider of service lifecycle management (SLM) software, has completed a merger with MCA Solutions, a best-of-breed provider of service parts optimization solutions. … PrimeRevenue Inc., which provides a SaaS platform for global supply chain finance, has opened a new location in Hong Kong. … Controlling interests of material handling systems integrator W&H Systems have been acquired by company president Don Betman and chief operating officer Ken Knapp. … Millwood Inc., a provider of unit load and packaging systems, has acquired National Packaging Specialists Inc., a distributor of engineered packaging films, tape, hoods, air bags, and other industrial packaging products to the United States and Canada. … RWI Transportation’s 2012 Temperature-Controlled Transportation Report delves into the challenges that shippers face in temperature-controlled shipping as well as the strategies they use to overcome them. … Hyperlogistics Group in Columbus, Ohio, will be celebrating its 40th year in business in November 2013. … Red Arrow Logistics was selected as one of 12 U.S. companies to participate in a U.S. Department of Commerce trade mission to Kabul, Afghanistan. ... Independent marine terminal operator Ports America has relocated its group office from Iselin, N.J., to Jersey City, N.J. … Blue Giant Equipment Corp. has opened a new dock equipment and parts stocking location near Los Angeles. … The Suddath Companies, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has acquired City Moving Systems Inc., based in Kent, Wash. The two companies will combine to create a $350 million corporation with diversified transportation and relocation service offerings.

UPS launches mass rollout of
driver handheld device

In one of its most significant IT advancements in the past seven years, UPS Inc. will equip its global driver network with a new handheld computer device that the company said is lighter, more powerful, and more functional than anything that has come before.

The Atlanta-based transport and logistics giant said it will roll out the fifth generation of its “Delivery Information Acquisition Device,” more commonly known by the acronym DIAD, simultaneously across its worldwide network starting later this year and extending into 2013. By the time the rollout is complete, about 100,000 units will be in use, UPS said. The device will be available to drivers of the familiar UPS package cars as well as over-the-road drivers working for its UPS Freight less-than-truckload subsidiary.

About 8,000 units of the new device, known as DIAD V, were introduced in late 2011 during the peak pre-holiday shipping season. Most UPS drivers are still operating with the fourth-generation device, which was rolled out in 2004. The first handheld device was introduced in 1991.

The company would not disclose the cost of the upgrade.

LIGHTER BUT MORE FUNCTIONAL

UPS said the new device has nearly 40 times more processing power than its predecessor, which will dramatically increase its functionality and allow drivers to perform tasks with much greater speed and accuracy than before. The greater processing capability will enable such functions as dynamic mapping and geo-positioning, which can detect if a driver is at the right stop or help the driver avoid a traffic jam.

The device also replaces the traditional laser-scanner technology with multidimensional imaging technology that UPS said will enable more precise and detailed scanning of label information without requiring the driver to rotate the device to capture the bar code.

The device comes with a color camera that UPS said could be used to enhance proof-of-delivery information and help speed up the processing of customer claims. Laynglyn Capers, vice president of technology operations, said the DIAD V is the only handheld device in the industry with an embedded camera.

In addition, the device weighs only 19 ounces, compared with the 2.6-pound weight of its predecessor, the company said. “The amount of functionality we can pump into the device is greatly enhanced,” Capers said.

UPS’s global network uses the DIAD for most of the tracking information viewed online. On average, UPS handles 32. 1 million online tracking requests each day. ;