When our customers need enhanced visibility, priority lane shipping and advanced recovery, many trust our UPS® Premier service, an advanced sensor technology offering available for healthcare shipments. Every shipment is tracked and monitored by agents like Detlef Benisch and Volkan Uran in our 24/7 Command Centres. It takes daily vigilance and precise coordination to make sure any shipments that may be impacted by adverse shipping circumstances are set back on track.
Detlef and Volkan both shared a piece of the process that helps ensure the most critical deliveries make it home.
Q: Tell us about yourselves and what you do.
Detlef: I joined the team when much of the COVID-19 vaccine work began, two years ago. I directly support the Cologne, Germany air hub operations to daily address any UPS® Premier parcels that have reached ‘level 3 escalation’ and need intervention. But, thanks to my experiences and a very good local network, we often approach challenges proactively to help solve problems in advance.
Volkan: Before UPS, I studied computer science and wanted a position where I could use those skills. A few years ago, I moved into the Dangerous Goods group at the Cologne air hub, helping to monitor parcels for both the Cologne centre, all of Europe and parts of the Middle East and Africa. Much of what I do falls on the I.T. side, using my programming experience to process a lot of data in a short period of time. My reports help identify parcels that will need support to get back on-time, flag potential issues and work closely with departments to solve issues as fast and efficient as possible.
Q: How exactly does the Command Centre work with healthcare shipments?
Volkan: There can be very different reasons a parcel becomes distressed. From my side, data helps me to see shipments that are not moving, are missing scans, are duplicates, become delayed, etc. Once I see these issues, I can pass along the information. Most of the time, we catch issues before they even require intervention.
Detlef: Like Volkan mentioned, it can vary daily. For example, there may be a late incoming flight due to weather, we know a UPS® Premier shipment needs to get off the plane and then coordinate with the parcel operation. Sometimes shipments are held by customs in a country, and we notify the relevant departments of that issue to get things moving.
Q: Do you have any recent examples of how you worked together?
Detlef: A recent example would be a medical device customer in The Netherlands who experienced a system outage at their facility. Unfortunately, UPS® Premier shipments were sent during this time that had UPS® Premier Gold labels, but no trackers applied. Volkan saw this in the system, and I worked with the Dangerous Goods team to physically locate the parcels and ensure they were moving normally through the Cologne air hub.
Volkan: Another scenario - we had a recent late inbound flight from Dublin with more than 20 shipments of UPS® Premier Gold and four hours behind schedule. We knew we needed to extract the UPS® Premier parcels and we notified the local teams to pull them off the plane. Where these parcels would typically be prioritised by sensors, we had to intervene and make sure these were delivered on time.
Q: What does it mean to work in this role for UPS Healthcare?
Volkan: I am very good at my job and I love to do it. I am very proud because I know it serves people and helps them... that is all the motivation I need. Thanks to our leaders, we have the freedom to bring in our ideas and improve our skills for the Healthcare Command Centres.
Detlef: I can only emphasise that. It is a pleasure to work in this great team... we move what really matters every day. We are handling parcels that have a really urgent need to be delivered and that makes an impact for someone.
