“The experience was very positive. Cubis was attentive to the specificities of our industry and ensured our support.

Manuel Correira,
CEO, VP Business Intelligence & Corporate Controlling

Turning Data into Actionable Information

Leveraging the Power of Data

The growing amount of data in an organisation can improve visibility and decision making while saving time. But the key is to harness the power of that data and make it actionable through user-friendly and intuitive tools. This is why Cubis worked with Cargolux, one of the world’s leading air freight companies

‘Data is the new gold’ is often heard. This data and its analysis are increasingly crucial for sectors such as aviation and in particular cargo transport. “It allows us to know as much as possible about our company Cargolux: customers, shipments, products and costs. Cargolux operates a global network with more than 70 destinations, which generates a lot of data. A lot of information is available but is simply not collected in the right way,” explains Thomas Klein, VP Business Intelligence & Corporate Controlling at Cargolux.

Decision-making based on real facts

As part of a digital transformation process, Cargolux wanted to improve its visibility of this data. “Cargolux launched an invitation to tender and analysed the market for existing technological solutions. We were then selected as implementation partner”, explains Lennart De Graeve (Project Manager Cubis/Cargolux).

Cubis wanted to take a clear approach that would deliver quick results. Thanks to its experience and expertise in managing analytical projects (SAP BI solution), the company was selected to provide solutions for data analysis. “These solutions cover topics such as profitability, control, HR, maintenance, commercial products, logistics and marketing. This covers almost all Cargolux departments,” says Soufiane Boulaamayl (Managing Director at Cubis).

Cargolux’s ambition was indeed to allow everyone to make decisions based on facts and thus benefit from a better visibility on the company’s reality. This is why it wanted to create a BI environment for all its departments. “BI is a two-part solution. On the one hand, there is a data warehouse that connects to Cargolux’s source systems. This involves extracting data from various departments and cross-referencing them using intelligence.  We then get a cross-functional view,” adds Soufiane Boulaamayl. The second part concerns reporting. Thanks to a tool, it is possible to build dashboards, reports, tables and listings. In other words, it is possible to aggregate and present the information under a graphic KPI. 

Involve the different departments

To determine the most relevant solutions from a technical feasibility and business value point of view, Cubis set up workshops with all the departments. “We sought to find out what their objectives were in terms of data for day-to-day decision making. This made the requirements tangible and helped us to create a blueprint, the design of the solution. We evaluated these requirements and prioritised them,” says Lennart de Graeve.

What is special about this collaboration is that the implementation part was carried out in the middle of a confinement. “To carry out a project like this without meeting face to face is exceptional. We tried to do our best and quickly found our rhythm to work efficiently. It was also at this time that Cubis established itself in Luxembourg. “Opening an office in Luxembourg at that time was complicated, we had to quickly find offices and the necessary equipment. So we initially worked remotely.” “Going to Cargolux at the start of the implementation phase was still impossible because of the sanitary restrictions imposed. So we initially worked remotely,” recalls Soufiane Boulaamayl.

Thanks to a mixed team of consultants, Cubis was able to implement the “BI Self Service” solution, the approach favoured by Cargolux. “We provide users with data in the data warehouse thanks to BW/4HANA. Using the SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) tool, they can then create the dashboards themselves. We were involved in the training phase according to the ‘train the trainer’ principle. For its part, Cargolux is satisfied with the collaboration: “The experience was very positive. Cubis was attentive to the specificities of our industry and ensured our support.