两点之间哪条路线最短？看UPS如何用大数据优化送货路线

    她解释说：“在收集信息、给司机实时提供数据上，移动性起到了重要作用。这不仅是指移动设备，还包括卡车、飞机和轮船上的感应器。”

    在提高运营效率的压力下，UPS在20世纪90年代为司机引入了手持设备。里维斯表示：“我们必须在智能手机和网络通信出现前就发明它们。”2008年，公司在运货卡车上安装了GPS追踪系统，而Orion则建立在这一基础上。

    尽管想要取代在大陆上川流不息的汽车快递不是件容易的事——总之，在亚马逊（Amazon）的无人机快递正式得到使用前是这样——但云计算的兴起让初创公司更容易接触到之前只有大型企业才能拥有的尖端技术。UPS理应走在前面。

    里维斯表示：“对我来说，这就是分析技术和大数据的未来——不仅仅是告诉你发生了什么，还能告诉你将要发生什么，如何实时纠正它们。如果有个系统可以智能到预测你的问题，并在它发生前予以解决，那它就像福尔摩斯一样了。看起来像千里眼，但实际上不是。”

    “把它变成现实还需要一段时间。不过这就是未来的景象。”（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    “Mobility is important in collecting information and providing live connection to the drivers,” she explained. “Mobility is not just about mobile devices but also about sensors in trucks, planes and ships.”

    Feeling pressure to make its operations more efficient, UPS introduced handheld devices for its drivers in the 1990s. “We had to create smartphones and communications online before they existed,” Levis said. In 2008, the company installed GPS tracking equipment on its delivery trucks. Orion is layered on top of this foundation.

    Though there’s no easy replacement for a continent-spanning fleet of vehicles—until Amazon’s delivery drones materialize, anyway—the rise of cloud computing has made it easier for startup companies to access the sophisticated technology that only the largest enterprises previously enjoyed. It behooves UPS to stay ahead.

    “To me, that’s the future of analytics and big data—not just telling you what has happened, but telling you what should happen and how to correct it in real time,” Levis said. “If a system is so smart that it predicts you’ll have a problem and solves it before it happens, it’s like Sherlock Holmes. It looks clairvoyant, but it’s not.

    “It will take a while. But that’s the vision.”