UsingGISinStrategicPlanningandExecutionatFedExExpress

JacquelynHaas,FedExServices
JeffMcLeod,FedExExpress
RickDezemplen,FedExServices
RodneyConger,ESRI

Abstract
ESRIGIStechnologiesarebeingusedatFedExExpresstosolvecomplexbusinessproblemsinboththe
planningandexecutionofthedailydeliveryprocess.TheapplicationofspatialdataatFedExisuniquein
thatitisbeingusedtosupportseveralmissioncritical,multiͲuserapplicationsandprocessesworldwide.
Spatialdataisbeingimplementedwithintheorganizationforuseindecisionmakingfortheroutingand
schedulingofthousandsofpickupanddeliveryvehiclesonadailybasis.Itisaimedatminimizingcosts
suchasmileage,overtimeofworkforce,efficientrouting,andeffectivedeliverymethods,leadingto
higherproductivityandgreatercustomersatisfaction.Thedynamicnatureofthedailyexecutionasa
businessproblem,whencoupledwiththeanalysisofhistoricalevents,GISspatialdata,customerdata,
andresourceinformationcanpredictbestpracticesfordeliverymethodsandincreasedproductivity.

Introduction
FedExusesamapͲbasedsystemtosupportplanningandoperationsactivitiesfortheonͲroadpickupand
deliveryoperationswithintheExpressoperatingcompany.Plannerswhooperatelocallyandwithlocal
knowledgebuildrouteplanswhichguideeverystageoftheoperationfromsortingtheinboundfreight
toloadingthevans,todrivingtheroutes.RouteplansaredesignedusingGISalongwithbusinessͲ
specificoptimizationmethodswhichworktogethertoallowtheplannerstotestthedurabilityoftheir
routeplanstoaccommodatepackagevolumeswhichmayfluctuatehigherorlowerthanthoseactually
plannedfor.GIStoolsareusedtodisplayroutesonthemapandoverlaystopsontopofthoseroutes.
Thesystemcalculatesanddisplaysstatisticsbasedonhowthosestopsandpackagesrelatetoroutes
andthenprovideseditingtoolsthatallowtheuserstoequalizestopandpackagevolumeacrossroutes.

OneofthekeystosuccessfuluseofGISinthissystemissimplicityinhowGISisimplemented.Thereare
nocomplexbusinessrulesoranalysiswithintheGIStools.Theuserinterfaceistaskdriventhrough
menusthatguidetheuserprogressivelythroughtheplanningtasksandexposethesetasksviaaneasyͲ
toͲusewebapplicationandArcMapbaseduserinterface.ComplexanalysisisoffͲboardedto
asynchronousalgorithmsusingHTTPlevelcommunication.Aseparationoftheplanningsystemandthe
operationalsystemalsoexistssuchthatoncetheplaniscomplete,validatedandtestedas‘readyfor
production’,itisloadedinastatewhereoperationalsystemscanaccessandreaditusingnormal
databasequeriesthatforegotimeconsumingGISanalysis.WebbrowserͲbasedmappingtoolsarealso
availablefornonͲeditingviewsofrouteplanningdata.ThesetoolswerebuiltusingtheArcGISServer

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JavaADFandareavailabletoawidergroupofhighlevelusersthanthelocalplanbuildingexpertswho
usethedesktoptooltobuildplans.

ThispaperpresentsthisFedExplanningsystemfromanimplementationperspectivebydescribingthe
architectureonwhichitisdeployedandthemethodsthatwereusedtoconstructit.Wealsodescribe
majorconsiderationsforasystemsuchasthiswhichmustcommunicatewithotherapplicationsthatdo
notemployGISconceptsandhavenoknowledgeofGISconstructs.Finally,wewilldescribechallenges
movingforwardfromaplatformperspective.RichclientcapabilitieswereonlyavailableinaDesktop
formatwhenthisdevelopmenteffortwasbegun,howevertheadvancementofWebAPIsandrich
functionalitythroughruntimeplugͲinslikeFlashandSilverlightprovideanopportunitytosimplifythe
fielddeploymentarchitecturesforsimilarapplicationsinthefuture.

1.0 Goalsandobjectivesforplanning

FedExExpressistheworld'slargestexpresstransportationcompany,providingfastandreliable
deliverytoeveryU.S.addressandtomorethan220countriesandterritories.FedExExpressusesa
globalairͲandͲgroundnetworktospeeddeliveryoftimeͲsensitiveshipments,usuallyinonetotwo
businessdayswiththedeliverytimeguaranteed.FedExExpresshandlesapproximately3.4million
shipmentseachdayinmorethan220countriesandterritories,includingeveryaddressinthe
UnitedStates.ThetransportationfleetatExpressconsistsof660aircraftand42,000motorized
vehiclesusedfordeliveryoftheseshipments.Thereare1083stations(692U.S.and391outsidethe
U.S.)thatareresponsibleforthepickupanddeliveryofthemajorityofshipmentstoandfromour
customers.WithintheU.S.,FedExExpressoffersawiderangeofshippingservicesfordeliveryof
smallpackagesupto150poundseach.Expressoffersmultiplenextbusinessdaydeliveryoptions
aswellas2or3businessdaydeliveryoptions.Internationalexpressdeliveryisguaranteedtomore
than220countriesandterritories,withavarietyoftimeͲdefiniteservicestomeetdistinctcustomer
needs.FedExExpressofferssamedayornextbusinessdaypickupofcustomershipmentsaswellas
dropoffpointsatnumerouslocationswithintheFedExsystem.Deliverycommitmenttimesforallof
theexpressservicesarebaseduponthedestinationzipcode.Forexample,PriorityOvernight
servicecommitmentsforpackagesshippedwithintheU.S.canbe10:30am,noon,or4:30pm
dependingonthedestination’sserviceareadesignatedinthemostrecenteditionoftheFedEx
ExpressServiceGuide.

Withallofthesestatisticsandinformationpresented,itistheresponsibilityofFedExExpress’s
PlanningandEngineeringgroupstoprovideefficientandeffectiveplansforourpickupanddelivery
operationsateachofthe1083stationsonadailybasis.Theseplansarederivedusingtoolssuchas
statisticalanalysisofhistoricaldataandforecastmodelingalongwiththeGISapplication.The
objectiveofplanningistoprescribethemostefficientuseofassets,personnel,andtimedefinite
windowstopickupanddeliverallofthepackagesthattransitthroughtheExpresssystem.Asthe
packagevolumesfluctuatedaily,theExpressoperationsmustalsobepreparedtoadjustinorderto
provideoursuperiorservicetoourcustomersataneffectivecost.Thiscyclemustberepeatedeach
operatingday.

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2.0 GoalsandObjectivesforExecution

AGISdescriptionofFedExExpressroutes
Pickupanddeliveryplansarecalledrouteplans,buttheydonotactuallydescribealinearpointͲtoͲ
pointdrivingplan.Routeplansaremoreaccuratelyrouteareasanddescribetheareawithinwhicha
courieroperatestopickupanddeliverpackages.Thelocationsofpickupanddeliverysiteswithin
therouteareaarecalledstops.Inthesimplestterms,astopthatfallswithinagivenareaonagiven
dayoftheweekandforagiventimeperiodwillbeassignedtoaspecificcourier.Routeplansare
brokenupabitfurtherbyspecifyinglocationsinsidethetruckwheredeliverypackagesareplaced.
Theselocationsarecalledloadpositionsandthecollectionofallloadpositionsconstitutetheroute.
Inmappingterms,eachpieceofgeographyisamemberofaloadpositionandeachloadpositionis
amemberofaroute.

InGISterms,routeplansaredescribedintermsofthestreetsegmentsthataremembersofload
positionsandroutes.Astreetsegmentisthelinearfeaturewhichconnectsoneintersectiontothe
nextorconnectstothestreetnetworkatonlyoneend.Soaloadpositionandhencearouteis
madeupofoneormorestreetsegments.Loadpositionsandroutesareareas,buttheyarenot
storedasphysicalpolygonsexceptformapdisplaypurposes.Thepolygonsareusedbythemapping
displaytoallowtheusertodiscernonerouteorloadpositionfromanotherandtoeasilyseethe
boundariesbetweentwodifferentrouteorloadpositionareas.

Addressesandstops
Stopsweredescribedaboveaslocationswherepickupanddeliveryoccur.Butthesestopsarenot
physicalpointsthatfloatinspace,theyareactuallylocationsalongastreetsegmentandinfactan
addressmustresolvetoastreetsegmenttobeconsideredpartofaroutefromtheperspectiveof
planningandexecution.Resolvingastoptoanaddressandanaddresstoastreetsegmentisoneof
themorecomplexandchallengingaspectsofthisoranysimilarsystemduetodataquality,address
qualityassuppliedbythepackagesender,andthequalityandaccuracyofthegeocodingprocesses
thatparseaddressesandresolvethemtolocations.Themethodsfordealingwithgeocodingissues
aretoolargeatopictodescribeinthispaper,butthechallengescontinuallyevolveasmore
internationallocationsareaddedtoanyaddressgeocodingsystem.Forthepurposesofbuildinga
planwiththesystemdescribedinthispaper;astophasanaddressandthataddressresolvestoa
streetsegmentinthestreetsfeatureclass.Morespecifically,thataddressresolvestoeithertheleft
orrightsideofastreetfeature.

Plan“definitions”andstoringGISdata
RouteandloadpositionplansarecomprisedofstreetsegmentsandtheGISrepresentationofthose
aregroupsofstreetfeatureswhichareunionedtogether.Sinceaddresspointsresolvetothebase
streetfeaturesthatmakeuptheroutesandloadpositionsandsincethesystemsresponsiblefor
sortingpackagesandloadingtruckshavenoconceptofGIS,theGISactuallystoresroutefeaturesin
twoways:first,routesarestoredusingspecializedlinebufferswhichbuildpolygonsaroundunioned
linefeatures.Thisstorageschemeisusedforvisualdisplayonlywhileusingtheplanningapplication

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 oronprintedmaps.Second,thesystemstoresdefinitionswhicharetabularrepresentationsofthe
streetlinesonwhichthepolygonfeaturesarebased.Thesedefinitionsdescribeeachrouteandload
positionwithaseriesofrecordsthatidentifythestreetsegmentsthatmakethemup,soother
systemswhichneedtoreadandunderstandarouteplanforoperationalsortingandloadingdonot
requireaGISinterface.Furthermore,thesortingandloadingoperationsarenotimpactedbythe
processingtimeitmighttaketodiscoverthespatialrelationshipofapointtoaroutefeature.To
summarize,routedefinitiontablesstoreatabulardescriptionoftherouteandbufferpolygonsstore
themappingrepresentation.Thisstorageschemeallowsthebufferedpolygonstobereconstructed
atanytimeusingthedefinitionsandprovidesassurancethattheinformationthatisshownonthe
mapwillbeaccuratelytranslatedintothepackagesort.

GISͲplantopackageͲdelivery
Theendresultofthisstorageschemeisastraightforwardsetofmappinginstructionsthatresolve
addressestostreetsegmentsandstreetsegmentstoroutesandloadpositionsasshowninFigure1.




Figure1.Fromaddresstopositiononthetruck.ThisishowapackageissortedusingabstractedGIS
planningdataforanydateandanystreetaddress.





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3.0 Applicationusageandarchitecture

Userinterfacesandworkflows
Routeplanningbeginswhentheuserspecifiestheparametersfortheplan.Forexample,aplanmay
beintendedtocoveronlyatwoͲhourdeliveryperiodforMondaymorningoraccommodatespecial
circumstanceslikeaparadeorstadiumevent.Oncetheseparametersareestablished,planning
beginswithinanArcGISDesktopapplicationbycheckingtheplanoutforediting.Thisapplicationis
calledtheT2RichClient.TaskspecifictoolsareprovidedwithintheRichClientthatallowusersto
quicklyaggregatestreetsegmentsintoplanelementssuchasroutesandloadpositions.Amore
detailedusecaseͲleveldescriptionofsomeofthesetoolsisprovidedinSection4.

OnceabasicplanstructurehasbeenestablishedusinginteractivetoolswithintheRichClient,offͲ
boardbusinessanalysisisexecutedonthepreliminaryplan.Thisanalysisrunsasynchronouslyand
theuserisnotifiedwhentheanalysishasfinished.Oncefinished,resultsoftheanalysisarethen
displayedonthemapandtheusercontinuestoworkwithintheRichClienttotunetheplanusing
feedbackfromtheanalysis.

Aftertheplanisfinishedandthevalidityoftheplanhasbeenconfirmedusingautomatedvalidation
toolswithintheRichClient,theplanissavedbycheckingitbackin.Plansthatareinavalid
geographicstatewhichhaveundergonebusinessanalysisandarecheckedͲinareavailabletobe
viewedbyareadͲonlywebmappingviewerthatisimplementedintheArcGISServerJavaADF
knownastheT2MapViewer.TheMapViewercannotmodifytheplans,howeveruserscanviewthe
planstohelpselecttheappropriateplanfortheproductionsortandinitiateamapprintingprocess
tocommunicatetheplanstothecouriers.

OtherwebmappingapplicationsthatareusedfortasksnecessarytopreͲandpostͲplanninginclude
anaddressgeocodingreͲmatchprocessor(RJP)whereuserscanviewhistoricalstopsonamap
alongwithlistingsofaddresseswhichcouldnotbegeocodedautomatically.Usersareabletoselect
anaddressandclickapointonthemapwheretheaddressshouldbelocated.Theapplicationthen
usesreversegeocodingtotiethenonͲgeocodeableaddresstothenearestvalidaddressonastreet
segmentforassignmenttoarouteandloadposition.Alsoincludedisarouteanalysistoolcalled
PlanetStationthatshowsacourier’sstopsafterstopsweremadeandhelpsidentifyproblemareas
whichmayhaveaffectedproductivityorcausedservicefailures.

MoredetailontheusecasesofthetoolsmentionedinthissectioncanbefoundinSections4and5.

Technicalimplementation
Eachapplicationinthesystemisisolatedontoitsowntier.TheArcGISServerJavaADFapplications
arefurtherisolatedintosubtiers.Figure2showseachtierandhowthetierscommunicatewithone
another.


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Figure2.Applicationcomponentanddatabasestoragetiers.

RichClient
TheRichClientisimplementedasanArcMapextensionandiswrittenwithArcObjectsusingC#.Net
andexposedtoendusersthroughouttheU.S.viaCitrixapplicationstreaming.Thisconfiguration
supportshundredsofsimultaneouseditors.ImplementingtheapplicationasanArcMapextension
allowsthestartupbehaviortobecontrolledandforacustomstartupmenutobeshowntothe
usersratherthantheCOTSstartupmenu.Theextensionalsoallowsforenvironmentcheckstobe
preformedpriortoallowingtheusertocontinueusingtheapplication.Forexample,ifthedatabase
connectionwerefoundtobeunhealthyatstartup,theuserisnotified,theissueloggedandthe
applicationautomaticallyterminated.AllcustomplanningͲspecificfunctionsarealsocontained
withintheextension.Usersaregivenachoiceofwhethertoloadaplanatstartuporjusttostart
ArcMapinCOTSmode.IfCOTSmodeisselected,allcustomplanningfunctionsaredisabled.

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Portionsofplansthatareeditedintherichclientresideinafilegeodatabasewhiletheyarechecked
out.CheckingaplanoutforeditinginvolvescopyingsomefeaturesfromtheArcSDEOracleinstance
toafilegeodatabasethatisdedicatedtothatcheckedͲoutplanonly.Theplanisalsomarkedas
beingcheckedͲoutintheoracleinstanceandisnotavailabletobecheckedͲoutbyanotheruser
whileinthisstate.Itisimportanttonotethattheterm‘checkout’doesnotimplyageodatabase
checkout.TheFedExplanningsystemdoesnotusegeodatabaseversioninginanysense.Rather,a
muchsimplerversioningmodelwasdevisedthatmeetsthebusinessrequirementofversionedplan
datawhileeliminatingallofthemanagementoverheadgeodatabaseversioning.

OffͲboardbusinessanalysisfunctionsarecalledfromtheRichClientviaHTTPtoaservicerequest
listener.Thelistenerthenpostsanalysisjobstatusinformationtodatabasetableswhichare
maintainedincommonbetweentheRichClientandtheanalysisengine.Thesystemarchitecture
andthemethodologyusedtoprocessoffͲboardbusinessanalysisfunctionsareshowninmoredetail
inFigure3.



Figure3.RichClientcomponentdetailforoffͲboardanalysis.TheArcMapextensionisusedfor
planningandgroupinggeographies(A).Whenaportionoftheplanisfinished,theusersubmitsa
businessanalysisrunrequestthroughanHTTPlistener.TherunrequestispublishedonaJMSqueue
andbrokeredthroughtheanalysisenginewhichrunswithinaPaaScloud(B).Theanalysisengine
usestheinformationprovidedwiththerunrequesttoretrievethedataneededfortheanalysis
fromthecommonOracledatabase(C).TheRichclientmonitorsrunrequestprogressandretrieves
analysisresultsthroughanODBCconnectiontotheOracledatabase(D).

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 WebApplications
ThewebmappingtoolsetcontainstheWebViewer,RJP,andPlanetStationapplicationsdescribed
above.TheseapplicationsprovidewebmappingcapabilitytousersthroughArcGISServer,theJava
WebADF,andfineͲgrainedArcObjectsapplicationswritteninJava.Allwebapplicationsshare
commondeploymenttiers.Thewebapplicationclientcodeisextensiveintermsofcapabilityandall
businesslogicforthemappingapplicationiscontainedintheJavaADFtieranddeployedusing
WebLogicapplicationserver.TheapplicationservertiermakesclientuseofArcGISServerwhich
residesonaseparatetier.MaprenderingandfineͲgrainArcObjectsprocessingservicesareprovided
totheADFtierthroughaSOC/SOMclusterthatisdistributedacrossseveralhoststoprovideload
balancingandredundancy.

DataServices
AlloftheapplicationsmakeuseofanOracledatabaseinstanceforpersistingdataandthis
repositoryservesasacommunicationmechanismbetweenapplicationswhichmostlymakenouse
ofservicesͲbasedarchitecturemethods.Permanentrouteplanandaddressdataarestoredin
Oracleandevolvethroughaversioninganddataupdatingschemeonadailybasis.Vendordatasuch
asstreetsandpostalcodepolygonsarealsostoredinOracleandchangesaremadetovendordata
througharegularscheduledupdateprocess.Filebaseddataisalsousedintheplanningprocessto
supportversioneddatarequirementswhenplanningdataischeckedoutforediting.Acachedtile
representationofbasemapdataisalsostoredonthefilesystemandprovidesvendorandbusiness
datamaptilestowebclientsandmappingapplicationsfordatawhichdoesnotchangeveryoften.

Figure4showsanexampleofoneofthedataservicesworkflowpatternsusedinthesystem.Inthis
example,thewebapplicationisusedtorequestasetofexportedPDFmapsrepresentingapickup
anddeliveryservicearea.Dataservicesareusedtoprovidethemapexportprocesswithplandata
describingtheroutes.Theoracledatabaseisthenusedtostoretheoutputofthemapexport
processforlateronͲdemandretrievalbytheuser.


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 User Save Request ID
User Views
Selects Request & Status
Map
Print to DB Displayed
(A)
Visible Layers, Paper size, List of stops,
Graphics, # of pages, MapDescription, Calculate
Extent Title, routes Route IDs Extent
& Scale

Co tops
Request & Get

llap
S
Capacity Request
Poll DB

se
Available From DB
(B)
Capacity List of stops, Process Each Route or
Poll for
controlled by MapDesc,
Requests
Route IDs,
Single Extent (C)
PaaS Cloud
And
paper size, #

be s
capacity

La hic
l)
pages, title

l & rap
bo G
Expo

ym te
rt M

(S rea
Store .PDF Merge .PDF To .P ap
DF

C
As BLOB To single
in DB document

Create Store .XLS

Update Request
.XLS As BLOB
Reports in DB
Status in DB
(D)
Using Web App
Completed Retrieve doc
User Checks Display docs
Request BLOBs
Request Status In browser
Found from DB
(E)
Legend
Synchronous Asynchronous
processing that processing handled by
involves the user PaaS Cloud


Figure4.Anexampleofaprocessthatusesdataservices.Usersareabletoviewmapsintheweb
browserapplicationandrequestprintedmaps(A).Thesystemsavesthemapprintrequesttothe
database.AprocessrunninginaPaaScloudmonitorsthequeueformapexportrequestsand
meterstherequestsintothemapprocessingservice(B).Thespatialextentofeachrouteinthemap
requestisusedtogenerateaPDFexportcoveringtheextentofthatroute(C).Afterallindividual
mapexportshavebeenexported,aprocessmergesallPDFscreatedbytheexportintoasingle
documentandserializestheexportintoaBLOBintheOracledatabase.Metadatafortheexported
mapiscreatedalsoaswellasjobrequeststatusinformation(D).Theusermonitorstheexport
progressusingthewebbrowserapplicationandisnotifiedwhenanexportcompletes.Theusercan
thendisplaytheexportedmapinthebrowserandprintitlocallyifdesired(E).


SpecificTechnicalChallenges
GISDataChallenges
OneoftheGISchallengeswiththissystemisduetothe32ͲbitlimitationofanArcSDEfeatureclass
OBJECTID.Ideally,stopaddressdatawouldhavebeenstoredinafeatureclassforeasyclientdisplay
andreadyavailabilityforGISanalysis.However,FedExExpressdailypackagevolumesgenerate

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 enoughstopsnationwidetoexceedthe2.1billionrowlimitationinarelativelyshortamountof
time.ThesolutiontothischallengewastostorethestopdatainnonͲspatialtablesandincludethe
latitudeandlongitudeasfields,withoutgeodatabasecolumnsorregistration.Whenstopdatais
requiredforanalysisordisplay,theappropriatestopsarequeriedusingstandardSQLandthenthe
clienteitherpersiststheresultsintotemporaryfeatureclasses(asintherichclient)orintographic
elementsthatcontainsymbologyandtextelementsforthelabels(asintheADFwebapplications).
Thissolutionisnotidealbecauseofmuchofthecomplexityandbusinesslogictosupportthis
functionalityresidesattheclientandisreͲimplementeddifferentlywithineachclientbasedonthe
architecture.

Anotherchallengeisthenationwidemapcache.Themapcachethatsupportsthewebapplications
isabout600GBinsizefortheU.S.andthecachedmapscalesmeetalargepercentageofthe
businessneed.However,therearesomescenarioswhereusersneedtozoomintoscalesthatare
largerthanthelargestcachedscale.Forthosecases,thewebapplicationsautomaticallyswitchto
dynamicallyrenderedmaps.Thisscenariooffersabettercompromisebetweennotusingcachingat
allandcachingatverylargescaleswhenconsideringthetimerequiredtogeneratethecacheduring
regulardataupdatesandthelowlikelihoodthatmanyofthetilesthatwerecachedatthehighest
resolutionwouldeverbeaccessed.MorerecentoptionsforcachingonͲdemandandperhapsamap
servicethatissufficientlyperformanttoeliminatetheneedforcachingentirelyarecurrentlyunder
consideration.Buildingandmanaginganappropriatecachethatiscompleteandcanbegenerated
inareasonableamountoftimehavebeenconsiderablechallenges.

Functionalandsystemchallenges
Aninherentchallengeinanymappingapplicationthatdisplaysdensepointdataiscommunicating
pointlocationsaccurately,butnotallowingstackedpointsatsmallscalestooverrunoneanother.
ThereareseveralFedExdatascenariosthatcancausemultiplestopstobeattheexactsame
latitudeandlongitudeorveryclosetogetheratnormalmapviewingscales.Thechallengeof
displayingonlyrelevantinformationforeachoverrunlocationwasovercomebyspatiallyclustering
thestopsbeforethegraphicelementsarecreated.Pointstopfeaturesarecollapsedandthe
representativesymbolonthemapischangedtoindicateaclusterlocationbasedinthescalethat
themapisbeingrendered.Furthermore,thetextlabelinthisscenarioischangedtoshow
informationaboutallofthefeaturesinthecluster.Thelogicforclusteringrunswiththeotherlogic
intheADFtierandperformanceisalwaysaconsideration.Apossiblefuturesolutiontothe
performanceissuemaybemovingthelogicintoaJavaServerObjectExtensionorperhapsclustering
onanewͲgenerationclientusingtheFLEXAPI.Newarchitectureoptionswhichdidnotexistwhen
thecurrentapplicationwasdesignedcouldhelptomoreeffectivelyovercomethelimitationsofan
applicationserverarchitecturestodeliverbetterperformanceandmoreinteractivitytotheend
user.

Anotherchallengeismapprinting.Usersofthewebapplicationscanrequestthatmapviewsbe
exportedtoPDF.SomeofthesemapscanbeveryintensemapswithlotsoffeaturesandstreetͲ
leveldetailsdisplayedatrelativelylargescales.Therefore,theexportingofthesemapsto.PDFis

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 handledasynchronouslyandqueuedbaseduponhardwareavailability.Forthesemaps,speedof
gettingthefinalproductisnotaprimaryconcernandmaprequestsareprocessedthroughthe
queueasdemandforresourcespermits.

AsameͲdaymappingwhichshowsacourier’srouteareaandstopsforthedayisanotherprinting
challenge.Speedisthemainconcernforthedailymapexportprocessandaspecialdedicatedmap
servercacheisusedtoproducethesemapssincerelyingonArcGISServertoprocessthemwould
haverepresentedabottleneck.Acustomapplicationwithtileedgematchinglogicwasdeveloped
forthispurpose.TheapplicationedgeͲmatchestilesfromthetilelibraryandplacesgraphicsymbols
onthemapsusingjavagraphicslibrariesbeforeoutputtingtheendproducttoPDF.

4.0 Planningoperations

SpecificplanninggroupsatFedExExpressareresponsibleforanalyzing,developing,communicating,
anddistributingplanstotheoperationspersonnelatthestationsacrosstheU.S.andothercountries
forthepickupanddeliveryportionsoftheprocess.Theplanninggroupsusecustomerandbusiness
informationfrompastdatesalongwiththeGISapplicationtoassignaddressesfromastreet
segmentormultiplestreetstoroutesfordeliveryassignment.Asthevolumechangesacross
differentweekdayswithintheExpresssystem,theplansneedtochangeaswellinordertoachieve
themostefficientoperationofthebusiness.Plannersmustreviewvastamountsofdataand
developplansforeverydaythatdictateschangesintheoperation.Saturdays,holidayperiods,and
Christmaspeakseasonrepresentsomeexamplesofperiodswhenthepickupanddelivery
operationschangedramatically.Almosteverydayoftheweekrequiressomeleveloffluctuation
withintheplanstoensuretheExpressbusinessmeetsitscommitmentstocustomers’needsand
operatesinthemostefficientmanneraswell.Operationspersonnelareprovideddifferent
operatingplansbaseduponthechangingneedsoftheseexamples.TheGIStoolallowsplannersto
reviewthesechangesonadailybasisandadjustrouteareasormetricssothatthepickupand
deliveryoperationscanexecuteefficientlywitheachvariation.Adjustmentscanbebasedupon
volumechanges,changesinstopdensity,moreorlessroutes,orschedules.Allofthisinformation
canbeviewedwithintheGISapplicationtodetermineoptimalplans.Figure5showsanexampleof
someoftheinformationthatisavailabletotheplanninganalystwhileusingtheapplication.

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Figure5.PlanninginformationdisplayedintheRichClientapplication.Userscanapply
representativestopstoaroutestructure.Theapplicationtoolssummarizestopsbyrouteandshow
theresultsasmetricsforeachroute.PlannerscanthenuseGIStoolstobalancestopdensityacross
routestructures.

GISToolscanshowplannersareasofworkfromhistoricaldata.Theapplicationalsoallowsplanners
toseehowrouteshaveoperatedinthepastandthatinformationcanbeusedtocreatenewplans.
Theplannercanseewhichrouteshavebeeningeographicalareasmostrecentlyorfrequentlyand
usethatinformationtoinfluencetheplanningprocess.Thetoolscanalsoassistwithintheplanby
automaticallygroupingthegeographyintopreliminaryrouteareas.Theplannercanworkfrom
thesepreliminaryareastomakeadjustmentsandmovegeographiesbetweenroutesusingGIStools
thatarededicatedtothosetasks.

Thesetoolsstreamlinetheplanningprocessandallowthepickupanddeliveryoperationstobe
moreflexibleandtoadaptdynamicallytochangingbusinessdemands.

AdeliveryserviceguaranteetoeveryaddressintheU.S.requiresthatalladdressesareaccounted
forwithineverydailyplan.TheGISapplicationenforcesandvalidateskeybusinessrulesduringthe
courseoftheplanningphaseandvarioustoolsensurethatallgeographyhasbeenassignedtoa
route,noaddresseshavemorethanoneassignment,andthatnoaddressesareunaccountedfor
withinanygivenplan.Thisaspectminimizeserrors,providescompleteandpreciseinformation
abouttheplanstooperationalsystemwhichareresponsibleforpackagescanning,labeling,and
loadingaccordingtotheplan.

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5.0 ToolsforexecutionandusingGISforpostͲexecutionanalysis

TheFedExExpressmappingtoolsdescribedinSection3containseveralwebͲbasedapplicationsthat
provideGISfunctionalitytoliterallythousandsofinternalcustomerswhoareresponsibleforall
aspectsofthebusinessofensuringthatFedExpackagesarepickedupanddeliveredontime.The
RichClientisprimarilyatoolforplanningandarelativelysmallnumberofexpertshaveaccesstoit.
Thewebapplicationsdescribedinthissectionhaveamuchlargerbaseofusersandare
instrumentalinsupportingtheoperationalGISneeds.

Historicaldataanalysis
OneoftheveryfirstbusinessusecasesforFedExExpresspickupanddeliverymappingtoolsisstill
relevanttodayandinvolvesplottinghistoricalstopsonamap.Historicalstops(asrecentasoneday
inthepast)areshownonthemapanddifferentlabelingandsymbologyareusedtoanalyzethe
stopsandroutestocomparewhatwasplannedtooccurversuswhatactuallydidoccur.PackageͲtoͲ
routeassignmentsarecomparedtotheroutesthatactuallydeliveredeachpackageandvariances
arehighlighted.Thepurposeofthismappingandanalysisistodetermineifproductivityissuesor
servicefailuresmaybeproblemswithroutedesign.Routeboundariescanthenbeadjustedwithin
therichclienttobetterdistributethestopsamongtheroutes.

Printedmapsareanindispensibletoolforcommunicatingoperationalinformationsuchthe
historicalstopsusecasementionedabove.Thewebapplicationsuitecontainsamapexport
applicationwheremapsarecreatedbasedontheextents/dataviewedonͲscreenasintheprevious
usecase.PDFdocumentsareexportedthatshowamapareacontainingatleasttheonͲscreenmap
extent.However,theuserhastheabilitytospecifypapersizeandnumberofpagesacrosswhichto
breakthemapupforformattingpurposes.Theuserthenhastheabilitytodownloadthat.PDFand
store,email,printasnecessary.

Anotherdistinctsetofusecasescenteraroundviewingtheplannedroutestructuresonamap.
ThesearetheroutestructuresthatweredesignedusingtheArcMapRichClientdiscussedearlier.
Thereareasmallnumberofuserswhoareskilledandauthorizedtousethatparticulartool.
However,therearethousandsofemployeesaffectedbytheplansthoseusersbuild.Theweb
mappingtoolsetincludesaWebViewerproductfocuseduponviewing,communicating,and
analyzingthoseplannedstructures.ThemostbasicusecasefortheWebVieweristosimplydisplay
routefeaturesthatrepresenttheplanonamapandallowpeopletopanandzoomthroughthemap
toseethegeographycoveredbythosefeatures.Userscanalsochoosetooverlayhistoricalstops
onthesamemapthatshowstherouteplanaswellasuserdefinedaddresspoints.Allofthis
informationtogetherononemapprovidestheuserwithinformationregardingthefeasibilityof
implementingtheplanbasedupondensitiesofstops.

SameͲdayoperationalsupport
TheFedExExpressoperationalservicemodelallowsforflexibleandcustomerfocusedservice
offeringssuchassameͲdayrequestforshipmentpickup.FedExExpressdispatchersusetheweb
applicationtoseewhichroutes(i.e.FedExvehicles)havehistoricallyhandledagivenaddressor

ESRI2010InternationalUserConferencePaper:1520 ƒ‰‡ͳ͵

 neighborhoodforthepurposesofassigninganonͲcallpickuprequest.Dispatcherscanenteran
addressintothesystemwhichwillbegeocodedandthemapwillzoomtotheareaaroundthat
address.Thedispatcherthenhastheabilitytoseewhichcouriershavefamiliaritywiththe
neighborhoodand/orcustomer.ThedispatcherscanalsoentermultipleaddressestoreceivepointͲ
toͲpointdrivingdirectionsincaseadriverisnotfamiliarwithaspecificaddress.

Thewebapplicationframeworkalsoprovidessupportforplannedexecutionbyexportingand
printingmapforcourierusesincethereisnopracticalelectronicaccesstothisinformationwhileon
theroad.Eachdrivercanbeprovidedamapthatshowstheirrouteareaalongwiththeplanned
stopsfortheirpickupanddeliveryperiod.Preparingthesemapsandgettingthemdistributedis
quiteatimeͲcriticalprocessandaparticularITchallenge.Moredetailabouttheimplementation
challengeofthisprocessandqueuingandexportingmapsingeneralcanbefoundtowardtheend
ofSection3.


6.0 Summary

TheimplementationanduseofGISinplanninganddailyoperationsatFedExExpresshasprovided
manytangibleandintangiblebenefitsandhasalsohaditsshareofchallenges.Thegeographic
planningtoolhasprovidedanaccuratemethodtopredictthedailyrequirednumberofroutes,the
stopcapacityforeachdeliveryrouteandrecommendeddeliverystopsequencing.Thiscapability
hasminimizedthenumberofonͲroadhoursfortheworkforceandbalancedtherouteandcourier
capacity.Thebenefitsaresavedfuelandimprovedlevelofservicetothecustomerthroughmore
efficientuseofresources.

Therehavebeenmanychallengesindevelopingsystemstoaccomplishthegoalsthathavebeen
attained–bothdomesticallyandinternationally.Manyindependentsoftwaretoolsandsystems
wereintegratedtoprovidetherequiredfunctionalityandsoftwarecomponentsrequiredistinct
hardwareandsoftwareconfigurations.ForexampleArcMaprunningonWindows/Citrixwasused
fortheRichClientbecausemanyoftherequiredfunctionsinthePlanningtoolkitwerefullfunction
ESRIDesktopGIStoolsandWindowsͲbasedenterpriseapplicationsareadeviationfromthe
standardFedExITapproachofapplicationserverͲbasedwebclientsandserviceoriented
architectures.Thesystemdescribedinthispaperconsistsofboth(webandthickWindowsclients)
andsupportingbothaswellasdevelopingserverbasedapplicationsto"talk"betweenthetiersand
clienttypeshashadchallengespertainingtoresponsetime,hardcopyprintingoutput,andsecurity
issues.

AparticularchallengeforanycompanywithaserviceprofilesuchasFedExisthegeocoding
requiredtogeoͲlocateeveryaddressnecessaryforpickupordeliveryofapackage.Eachday,there
arenewaddressesthatthesystemhasnotencounteredpreviously,changestopostalcodes,and
theconstantvariabilityofcustomerͲsuppliedaddressinformation.Manyaddressesthatcomeinto
FedExonadailybasisare"unresolved”orunmatchedafterinitialautomatedgeocodingprocesses.
Differentmethodsareusedtocorrecttheseaddressesinasmallwindowoftimeanddeveloping
andmaintainthesemethodsisachallengethatwillcontinuetogrowaswerolloutthisplanning
productinternationally.Eachnewcountryrepresentschallengesduetothelimitedamountof
geocodingandstreetnetworkdataavailabletothetools.

ESRI2010InternationalUserConferencePaper:1520 ƒ‰‡ͳͶ

 
Timeisusuallytheprimarydriverofimplementingnewfeaturesorimprovementstosystemswhen
thecommitmenttoreliableonͲtimeserviceisasimportantasitisatFedExExpress.Amajorhurdle
ofintegratingthissystemhasbeentheabilitytoaccomplishalloftheexecution"pieces"insucha
smallamountoftime.Criticalshipmentscanbecontractedlateintotheeveningfordeliveryearly
thenextmorningandpackageprocessingaccordingtoaplanmustbedoneformillionsof
shipmentsonadailybasisinaveryshorttimeframe..TimeͲsavingmethodsandstateoftheart
technologies(suchascloudcomputing)havebeenemployedtomeetthechallengeofminimize
responseandexecutionprocessingtimes.

Manyintangiblebenefitshaveresulteddirectlyfrompreciseplanningaswell.Withautomatic
assignmentofpackagestogeographicareas,theworkforceresponsibleforsortingpackagesand
loadingvehiclesnolongerneedstomaintainthoroughknowledgeoftheareaforwhichtheyare
responsible.Thereisconsequentlylessstressinthemorningsduringthesortbecausestaffno
longerworrythatapackageforanotherdeliveryareawillbeloadedontothewrongvehicle.
Additionally,theplanningtoolshaveenabledroutedesignthatequalizesloadacrossallcouriersand
minimizesconditionswherethereistoomuchworkforsomestaffwhileothersdonothaveenough
worktostaybusy.


ESRI2010InternationalUserConferencePaper:1520 ƒ‰‡ͳͷ