Skip to main content ITU
Logo
  • Programmes
    • BSc Programmes
    • BSc in Global Business Informatics
    • BSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies
    • BSc in Software Development
    • BSc in Data Science
    • Applying for a BSc programme
    • MSc Programmes
    • MSc in Digital Innovation & Management
    • MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies
    • MSc in Software Design
    • MSc in Computer Science
    • MSc in Data Science
    • MSc in Games
    • Applying for an MSc programme
    • Student Life
    • Women in tech
    • Student organisations at ITU
    • Labs for students
    • Practical Information for International Students
    • Ask a student
    • Study Start
    • Study and Career Guidance
    • Guest Students
    • Who can be a Guest Student
    • ITU Summer University
    • Exchange Student
    • Become an exchange student at ITU
    • Open House
    • Open House - MSc programmes
    • Open House - BSc programmes
  • Professional Education
    • Master in IT
    • Master in IT Management
    • Single Subjects
    • About single subjects
    • Contact
    • Contact us here
  • Research
    • Departments
    • Business IT Department
    • Computer Science Department
    • Digital Design Department
    • Research Groups and Labs
    • Research Groups
    • Labs
    • Research Centres
    • Centre for Digital Play
    • Center for Climate IT
    • Center for Computing Education Research
    • Centre for Digital Welfare
    • Centre for Information Security and Trust
    • European Blockchain Centre
    • Danish Institute for IT Program Management
    • ITU Research Portal
    • Find Researcher
    • Find Research
    • Research Ethics and Integrity
    • Good Scientific Practice
    • Technical Reports
    • Technical Reports
    • PhD Programme
    • About the PhD Programme
    • PhD Courses
    • PhD Defences
    • PhD Positions
    • Types of Enrolment
    • PhD Handbook
    • PhD Support
  • Collaboration
    • Collaboration with students
    • Project collaboration
    • Project Market
    • Student worker
    • Project postings
    • Job and Project bank
    • Employer Branding
    • IT Match Making
    • Hiring an ITU student or graduate
    • Make a post in the job bank
    • Research collaboration
    • Licensing Opportunities
    • Open Entrepreneurship
    • Research collaboration
    • Industrial PhD
    • Hire an Industrial PhD
    • Innovation and entrepreneurship
    • ITU Business Development
    • ITU Startup programme
  • About ITU
    • About ITU
    • Press
    • Vacancies
    • Contact
  • DK
Ship engine builder heading for a data-driven future
ITU  /  Press  /  News from ITU  /  Ship engine builder heading for a data-driven future

Ship engine builder heading for a data-driven future

Companies are increasingly using data and statistical analysis to improve their services and boost their businesses. In his thesis project from Digital Innovation & Management at ITU, Tiemo Thiess looked at how a classical industrial company like MAN Diesel & Turbo can improve its sales and service processes using data-driven decision making.

Business IT DepartmentIndustrial PhDbig databusinessITU thesis

Written November 23, 2017 8:57 AM by Vibeke Arildsen

How did you come up with the idea for the thesis?

I was working as a student in MAN Diesel & Turbo’s aftersales analytics department, where I was involved in a lot of meetings in connection with a strategic initiative to digitalize the company. This inspired me to look at where the organization could benefit from data-driven decision making (DDD) tools. The research method that I used, action design research, encourages researchers to look for research opportunities in organizational contexts, which helps to create synergies between science and industry. 

What is data-driven decision making?

»

Basically it means basing decisions not only on human assessments, but using data and statistical analysis to support decision making.

«
Basically it means basing decisions not only on human assessments, but using data and statistical analysis to support decision making. While DDD is already common for digital-born companies, classical industrial companies have traditionally relied much on their expert knowledge. Today, technological advances with regard to computing power and data collection and analysis methods open up new opportunities for classical industrial companies. As a result, they are starting more and more digitalization and DDD initiatives to support employees in their decision making and offer more digital services to customers.
Tiemo Thiess

 Tiemo Thiess.

  • MSc in Digital Innovation & Management from ITU in 2017.

  • Currently an Industrial PhD at ITU and MAN Diesel & Turbo.

What particular challenges did you identify at MAN Diesel & Turbo?

I identified different sales processes at MAN Diesel & Turbo that had high potential to be improved by using DDD for contacting customers pro-actively based on their particular situation. Another challenge was that the company mostly sells spare parts and services to other businesses on a non-contractual basis, and because of this, you don’t always know exactly when a customer is going to need spare parts and other services, unlike in contract-based services such as phone and TV subscriptions.

What was the outcome of your project?

I developed a method in which, at first, customers with a high potential for a sale are identified by predicting, for instance, their future amount of transactions and their probability of staying an active customer. Those predictions are done using historical data as well as some general assumptions about purchasing processes. The second step is to identify particular upcoming events in the life-cycle of a customer´s ship. In the third step, the information is connected and assigned to a sales responsible via a CRM system, so that he or she knows which customers have current needs and are probably interested in being contacted.

»

Based on the outcome of my thesis, the company started a whole new project for creating data-driven leads in the CRM system.

«
The design of this method was the basis for a more theoretical part of my thesis in which I evaluated how the users, the design team and the whole organization influenced and shaped the method. Based on this evaluation, I developed initial principles for designing and implementing DDD methods in complex organizations like MAN Diesel & Turbo.

How was the feedback from MAN Diesel & Turbo?

The feedback has been really positive and based on the outcome of my thesis, the company started a whole new project for creating data-driven leads in the CRM system. At the moment, the first leads that were created based on my method are followed-up by the sales responsible and I am looking forward to further analyzing the quality of such data-driven leads compared to other kinds of leads.

What’s next for you?

I’m now working on an Industrial PhD at ITU, also in collaboration with MAN Diesel & Turbo. In this project, I will further work on the project that resulted from my thesis, but also look at other processes in the company that can be advanced using DDD, for instance, using new external data regarding positions of ships. Another process to look at is market forecasting, where I want to investigate how to create value with models that incorporate the effects of external factors on the company.
ITU theses

Read the other articles in the series about thesis projects from the IT University of Copenhagen:

Blockchain can prevent fraud in the food industry

Creating more realistic hand movements in VR

Mia built an artificial brain that knows a barn owl from a stork

Can chemotherapy at home benefit cancer patients?

Thesis project turned into an award-winning puzzle game

Teaching computers to understand human language

A Tinder app for art

Further information

Vibeke Arildsen, Press Officer, phone 2555 0447, email viar@itu.dk

News

How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg receives impressive media coverage all over the world

How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg receives impressive media coverage all over the world

March 24, 2023

Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor at IT-University of Copenhagen and University of Oxford, has recently had his book How Big Things Get Done published. The book has received a spectacular welcome and a massive press coverage worldwide.

Do deepfake videos challenge the integrity of online information?

Do deepfake videos challenge the integrity of online information?

March 7, 2023

Deepfakes – highly realistic synthetic audio-video content depicting actual individuals – may potentially increase the dissemination of disinformation online, but research on the phenomenon and how users are affected is sparse. A new research project spearheaded by the IT University’s Human-Centered Data Science research group tackles the issue.

Professor portrait: Teaching and teaching teaching is Claus Brabrand’s hallmark

Professor portrait: Teaching and teaching teaching is Claus Brabrand’s hallmark

March 6, 2023

On March 23, Claus Brabrand, Head of the Center for Computing Education Research (CCER) and member of the Computer Science Department at the IT University of Copenhagen, will present his inaugural lecture as professor. He has spent the past twenty years working in educational research and is today considered a thought leader in the field. The lecture will take place at 14:00 in Auditorium 0 (zero).

ITU web server targeted by attackers, system integrity remains intact

ITU web server targeted by attackers, system integrity remains intact

February 28, 2023

On Thursday, February 23, ITU’s web server was targeted by cyberattackers. The server went offline briefly but the system integrity remains intact.

ITU project to monitor illegal hate speech on social media platforms

ITU project to monitor illegal hate speech on social media platforms

February 27, 2023

Social media platforms are required by law to remove illegal content – such as hate speech – but in Denmark, monitoring of the platforms ceased in 2018. A new ITU lead project aims to monitor platforms for instances of hate speech in Danish and report to the EU.

Ambitious EU funded robot research project to ensure sustainable food handling

Ambitious EU funded robot research project to ensure sustainable food handling

February 20, 2023

The EU MOZART project investigates the latest robotic technologies and system solutions to drive the food industry towards economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The project is coordinated by Professor Kasper Støy of the IT University of Copenhagen.

New research and industry collaboration to improve usability of cyber security tools

New research and industry collaboration to improve usability of cyber security tools

February 6, 2023

Cyberattacks are multi-dimensional, but cybersecurity software lacks the ability to represent threats. A new research and industry collaboration headed up on the ITU side by Associate Professor of Digital Design at the IT University, Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, sets out to make cybersecurity tools more accessible and usable.

New face at ITU to help build the “Danish embassy of AI”

New face at ITU to help build the “Danish embassy of AI”

February 6, 2023

Associate Professor of Computer Science, Toine Bogers, is a new face at the IT University of Copenhagen. Alongside his work at ITU, he is also the new Chief Scientific Officer of the Pioneer Centre for AI – a collaborative effort between five Danish universities to conduct and facilitate fundamental research in AI.

Radu-Cristian Curticapean secures funding from Villum Fonden for research in resource requirements

Radu-Cristian Curticapean secures funding from Villum Fonden for research in resource requirements

January 24, 2023

This year, 22 research talents from the technical and natural sciences will receive a combined total of DKK 126 million through Villum Fonden Young Investigator Programme. One of this year’s recipients is Associate Professor of Computer Science from the IT University of Copenhagen, Radu-Cristian Curticapean who has been awarded 3 million DKK for research in the field of theoretical computer science.

Regarding incident at last year's exam

Regarding incident at last year's exam

January 13, 2023

Students taking the Security 1 exam on December 22, 2022, were presented with an exam set identical to last year’s. The university administration is still in the process of investigating the incident.

ITU researcher receives grant to develop quantum-inspired algorithms

ITU researcher receives grant to develop quantum-inspired algorithms

December 19, 2022

Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, Michael Kastoryano, has secured 5 million kroner from the Carlsberg Foundation to develop quantum-inspired algorithms.

ITU researcher receives grant to enable powerful machine learning in smaller hardware environments

ITU researcher receives grant to enable powerful machine learning in smaller hardware environments

December 16, 2022

Associate Professor of Computer Science at the IT University of Copenhagen, Pınar Tözün, has secured 2.7 million kroner from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to develop novel mechanisms to get more value out of data using the computing power of small devices.

ITU researcher secures ERC Consolidator grant to develop rapid learning abilities in AI

ITU researcher secures ERC Consolidator grant to develop rapid learning abilities in AI

December 13, 2022

Professor Sebastian Risi from the IT University’s Digital Design department has received 1.9 million Euros from the European Research Council to develop AI that is capable of adapting to and learning from unforeseen events in a bid to unleash more of the enormous potential of autonomous machines.

Research spinout LAIKA helps creative writers overcome the dreaded writer’s block

Research spinout LAIKA helps creative writers overcome the dreaded writer’s block

December 5, 2022

Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, Martin Pichlmair, has spearheaded the development of LAIKA – new artificial intelligence that acts as a helping hand for creative writers struggling to find inspiration. Today, LAIKA is officially launched as a spinout company in collaboration with the ITU Business Unit.

Cooperative enterprise is in our cultural DNA – so why aren’t we better at it today?

Cooperative enterprise is in our cultural DNA – so why aren’t we better at it today?

November 29, 2022

Cooperative enterprise may help tackle some of society’s greatest problems, chief among them a constantly changing labour market. Traditionally, cooperative enterprise has played an important role in Denmark, but the business form is marginalized today. The IT University research group Reflection and Action (Reflact) is working on changing that.

Routledge to publish long awaited handbook of collective intelligence

Routledge to publish long awaited handbook of collective intelligence

November 23, 2022

The handbook, which is co-edited by Assistant Professor of the IT University, Carina Antonia Hallin, will provide a much-needed foundation for working in the field of collective intelligence combining human minds and technology for democracy and governance. The book is available for pre-order now.

ITU researcher secures prestigious EU funding for research in theoretical computer science

ITU researcher secures prestigious EU funding for research in theoretical computer science

November 22, 2022

Associate Professor Radu-Cristian Curticapean at the IT University of Copenhagen’s Computer Science department has received a 1.5 million Euro grant from the European Research Council to conduct research in the field of theoretical computer science.

IRFD funds ITU research in voter coercion and graph modification problems

IRFD funds ITU research in voter coercion and graph modification problems

November 15, 2022

IT University of Copenhagen researchers Oksana Kulyk and Paloma Thomé De Lima have been awarded 2.8 million kroner for their respective projects from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

New research center focuses on IT aspects of the green transition

New research center focuses on IT aspects of the green transition

November 11, 2022

On December 7, the IT University of Copenhagen is launching the new Center for Climate IT which will examine the complex relationship between digitalization and climate change. Join us for an opening reception and panel debate.

Gaming AI engine developers modl.ai close 8.5-million-euro funding deal

Gaming AI engine developers modl.ai close 8.5-million-euro funding deal

November 9, 2022

The company, co-founded by Professor at the IT University, Sebastian Risi, tackles complex game development problems with automation and an army of bots.

Contact us

Phone
+45 7218 5000
E-mail
itu@itu.dk

All contact information

Web Accessibility Statement

Find us

IT University of Copenhagen
Rued Langgaards Vej 7
DK-2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark
How to get here

Follow us

ITU Student /
Privacy /
EAN-nr. 5798000417878/
CVR-nr. 29 05 77 53

This page is printed from https://en.itu.dk/