On Track: People And Technology Keep Packages MovingOn Track: People And Technology Keep Packages Moving

To visit FedEx Corp.'s Memphis, Tenn., hub during peak hours just days before Christmas is to witness high-tech automation matched with human brawn. An 802.11 wireless network assigns an IP address to every cargo plane that lands, creating a virtual network device with wings, while optical scanners help automatically sort more than a million packages each shift. Yet, thousands of workers are required to keep goods moving during the four-hour blur of activity, known simply as "the sort," that begins around 11 each night.

It's an impressive scene as cargo containers get unloaded from approximately 145 planes, taken to one of several areas where sorting begins, then reloaded on outbound flights. Aircraft schedules, truck routes, and other workflow are determined by a plan that's been in the works for six months and takes into account every combination of "to" and "from" ZIP codes in the country. But the process remains fluid. "We can modify the plan up to the last minute," says Alex Vergos, senior technical adviser of line-haul systems development.

Vergos is part of the IT organization responsible for the systems that keep the Memphis hub humming. They include the Comprehensive Inbound Control System, which tracks the arrival of aircraft and trucks, enables the dispatching of crews for unloading, and tracks the status of all containers; the Universal Sort Interface, which scans and gathers package information; the Universal Sort Director, which manages package routing; and the Mass Scan and Dimensioning System, which gathers scan information from "nonconveyable packages."

The automated sorting facility where midsize boxes are handled is a cacophony of moving vehicles, busy people, flying packages, and whirling conveyor belts--all best experienced while wearing ear plugs. "It's going to be a little noisy where we're going," warns Vergos when entering the building, which has the capacity to process 125,000 packages an hour. "I'll just scream at you while we're there."

The small-package sorting system, which handles the bulk of FedEx Express envelopes that pass through the hub, is newer and quieter. Here, every package is weighed to a hundredth of a pound before being whisked off by conveyor belt.

But it's the planes that hold the most fascination for Vergos, a 14-year FedEx employee. Standing at the end of a runway on a clear, cold night, Vergos identifies an incoming DC-10 several miles away by its headlights. "Look at the grace," he says as the plane screams overhead. Just be sure your ears are covered.

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