E-commerce drives US$180 million investment in UPS Arizona facility

The UPS response to the e-commerce revolution seems to be pouring money into the U.S. logistics sector, this time with a new package processing hub in Goodyear, Ariz.

UPS is already offering Saturday ground delivery and pickup service, which began last month in Mesa, Ariz., and plans to expand the service to Phoenix on June 3. The new facility should allow the integrator to add even more cities to the weekend delivery service, once it is operational.

The additional days are a response to online shoppers, who now expect deliveries on the weekend as well, as e-commerce changes marketplace habits and expectations. UPS is also playing catch-up, since the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx have been delivering on the weekends for many years.

The new UPS facility will be set up in a modified 618,000-square-foot structure. UPS said it hopes to have a portion of the building in operation in time for this year’s holiday season to handle the surge. Upon completion in late 2019, the new facility will have 970,000 square feet of “advanced operational technologies and sortation equipment under roof.”

The expansion is part of the company’s global investment strategy to provide agile and efficient transportation, processing and information network across the supply chain. “The decision by UPS to establish a regional operations center in Greater Phoenix is indicative of the growing e-commerce industry,” said Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.