Lufthansa self-service data analytics modernizes data analytics with Tableau

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Lufthansa Technik are using Tableau Software to improve customer loyalty and satisfaction as well as to optimize engineering processes. “With Tableau we are able to increase customer satisfaction and develop more efficient processes,“ says Christian Novosel, Leader of Group Strategy at Lufthansa. “Through agile data analysis we get a better understanding of our passengers and can offer them the right products at the right time. With the growing amounts of data and increasing requirements, this objective is hard to achieve with traditional BI tools. By using Tableau we are finding better and quicker answers and reducing the technical overhead at the same time.”

Tableau was selected as the visual analytics software of choice by a variety of internal departments. One of the reasons for this selection was ease of use. “The software doesn’t require any prior knowledge in data analysis or programming,” says Dr. Wolfgang Schwegle, senior manager IT Development, Corporate Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence at Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We can combine data from different areas such as sales, production and cost unit accounting and gain new insights from that. Instead of looking at static reports, we can now dynamically change individual parameters and combine relevant data on-the-fly.”

Schwegle also found the easy-to-use visualization capabilities very convincing. “Our staff can transform their analysis into interactive graphics by simply dragging and dropping and presenting it instantly - even on an iPhone or iPad.” According to Schwegle, Tableau does not just provide new and agile ways of handling management reporting, but modernizes analytics from the ground up.

Each department is now able to run its own analyses. “Our departments used to take weeks or months to analyze their data in Excel. With Tableau we can create these analyses very quickly. The number of employees who are now able to run complex analytics has increased significantly. We have made a big step towards our strategic goal of building a data-driven culture throughout the organization,” says Fabian Schmick, senior manager Business Development at Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Additionally, Lufthansa Technik uses Tableau to optimize process management in engineering. For example, during test trials, engineers record and analyze measurement values and cycle times to improve logistics. For Sebastian Huff, Project Manager of Advanced Analytics at Lufthansa Technik, it’s not just the ease of use or the fact that departments can run their own complex analyses and custom analytics. For Huff, one of the most valuable points is the ability to connect to any data in various formats. “With Tableau with have an easy-to-use tool that is capable of analyzing the most diverse range of data sources. The software has won us over on multiple levels.”