Describe how UPS has used positive technological change to improve its package handling and delivery schedule

What will be an ideal response?

Some of the new technology took the form of new equipment. Previously, employees in UPS sorting facilities needed to memorize more than 100 zip codes in order to know which chute to send a package down on its way to being deposited in a truck or plane. The new equipment scans a package and instantly tells the worker in which color-coded chute to place the package. This equipment allows UPS workers to process 15 percent more packages per day. Other changes at UPS involved no new equipment but were instead improvements in how packages were routed. The firm started using more detailed maps to plan the routes for packages. As a result, the typical delivery driver could travel several miles less per day while delivering more packages. UPS also began taking better account of weather forecasts to avoid delays in flying packages. These improvements in handling packages meet the economic definition of positive technological change because they allow the firm to produce a larger output—more packages delivered—with the same amount of inputs—workers, planes, and other equipment.