Big Data and the Data Value Chain: Translating Insights from Business Analytics into Actionable Results - The Case of Unit Load Device (ULD) Management in the Air Cargo Industry

Business intelligence and analytics enjoy a great deal of attention today. However, there is a lack of studies considering the full data value chain from (raw) data through business analytics to valuable decisions, i.e. also scrutinizing the latter stages of the data value chain, namely timely deployment and operational usage of valuable insights as demanded by practice. Following a design science approach, we develop a concept for the fast and flexible integration of valuable insights into daily decision support. A key feature of our concept is to provide valuable insights from business intelligence in an understandable manner to decision makers using a rule-based expert systems approach. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of our concept, we implemented a prototype in a complex real-world scenario, i.e. unit load device (ULD) management in the air cargo industry. This research in progress presents our preliminary findings and outlines the potential of the proposed concept.