Logistics company UPS is investing $120m Bluetooth-enabling all of its 1700 service centres.

Over the next five years staff will be equipped with a Symbol Technology Bluetooth scanner that is worn on the wrist, and 802.11b hip-mounted terminals from Motorola, running Windows CE.

The technology will be used for high-speed processing of packages at the centres.

UPS director of electronic commerce Jos Dujardin said the technology is expected to raise productivity and get packages to their destinations faster.

He said Bluetooth was right for UPS, despite slow enterprise take-up elesewhere. 'We don't care, as long as it provides good business benefits,' he said.

UPS drivers are already using GPRS scanners to scan packages. The addition of the Bluetooth terminals will speed the process up further.

UPS transports 13.6m packages across the world every day via its 360,000 staff, 584 planes and 88,000 vehicles.

Technology has been a major part of the company's rise and it spends $1bn a year on IT alone.