PORTLAND, Ore. --The delivery business in Portland just got bigger. UPS showed off its new expanded facility on Swan Island Friday.
At nearly twice the size, it means doing more of what they do on a much larger scale. And thanks to technology much faster.
"Fifty-three thousand packages an hour we can flow through this facility," said Jim Joseph, Director of Engineering for UPS.
An Open House was held Friday to show some customers the new facility. The expansion began in 2006. It's an $86 million investment, that doubles the size and capacity of the Portland hub.
"We need to make sure that we were able to effectively be able to handle not only today's packages but what we're really expecting get through the economy rebound is really double of what we currently have," said Joseph.
Joseph says new state of the art technology is being used thoughout the facility. It helps speed the sporting process, time, money and energy.
"We able to design the routes we have less idle time,always have right hand turns. Optimizing our delivery order, never having to re loop back and create excess miles," said Joseph.
Some 119 million miles were saved since 2001. The 450,000 square foot facility is using green practices not only inside but out. In addition to gas powered vehicles, UPS uses 2000 hybrid trucks company-wide to make deliveries. But, it's what's on the label that's the secret to getting parcels delivered faster.
Director of Planning Bob Esperto points out that a bulls eye mark surrounded with important information on each label is key to UPS's delivery success.
"When the label is read, it knows exactly what destination it's going to," said Esperto.
UPS is one of the largest employers on Swan Island with more than 1,600 employees. There are four facilities covering 46 acres.
