Learn how UPS, a global package delivery company, has developed an algorithm to schedule routes for its delivery trucks in this video from NOVA: Making Stuff Faster. Host and technology columnist David Pogue examines how difficult it is to find the most efficient way to visit multiple locations—a mathematical challenge known as the "traveling salesman problem." UPS has developed a system that breaks the problem down into smaller problems so that a computer can approximate the best solution without having to do an astronomical amount of calculations.

This video is available in both English and Spanish audio, along with corresponding closed captions.