Lufthansa Cargo Celebrates 10 Years of Transforming Core Cargo Business with IBS Software

In celebration of their ten-year, and ongoing, partnership, Lufthansa Cargo and IBS Software reflect on the journey to revolutionize Lufthansa's entire air cargo movement worldwide

FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This month, Lufthansa Cargo celebrates 10 years of transforming its global air cargo business with IBS Software. Over the past decade, IBS Software has successfully partnered with Lufthansa Cargo to create a modern, agile and innovation-focused business, built on the strong foundation of iCargo – IBS' market leading cargo platform.

The partnership began when Lufthansa Cargo made the decision to replace its core IT platform - a mainframe system called Mosaik - in 2012. This was a 30-year-old legacy technology, which formed the nerve center of its operation; changing it was considered a project of immense complexity and risk. Consequently, Lufthansa Cargo carried out a rigorous market search during which 400+ potential suppliers and partners were evaluated. IBS Software and its iCargo offering were selected based on the strength of the offering, the capability and experience of its teams and the high level of congruence in future strategy.

For Lufthansa Cargo, IBS Software served not only the immediate goal of significantly upgrading its operational core but also further consolidated its IT landscape by bringing other, Lufthansa Cargo-built applications under the iCargo umbrella. The highly complex transformation project - named iCAP - involved more than 300 global locations across the Lufthansa Cargo network and its major hubs in Europe, including the Frankfurt mega-hub.

The outcome of iCAP was an integrated solution that supports the requirements of the airlines' freight business, providing enhanced web-enabled features that optimize operations, enhance profitability, and provide scalability. The solution helps manage the increasing volumes of cargo movement requirements of freighters, ground handling agents (GHAs), as well as airports. Buoyed by the success of the initial phase of the project, Lufthansa moved to a full SaaS (Software as a Service) model of software delivery for iCargo in 2020, entrusting the full ownership of hosting and maintenance of Lufthansa Cargo's iCAP platform to IBS Software.

Lufthansa Cargo and IBS Software also continued to innovate and develop several industry firsts and implement innovative business practices such as the iPartner Handling platform in 2021. This deployment represented significant progress for Lufthansa Cargo's 'Mobile Digital Handling' initiative, created to eliminate paper-based processes across its operations by digitizing tasks and process checks carried out by its GHA partners to enable best-in-class customer experience. These efforts have culminated in Lufthansa Cargo recently achieving 100% eFreight adoption, which is the industry benchmark. 

Dorothea von Boxberg, Chairman of the Executive Board at Lufthansa Cargo, says: "IBS has been a strong partner in guiding us on our digitization journey over the years. From the replacement of legacy IT systems, to the laying of the foundation stone in the area of digital fulfillment, to the development of more far-reaching IT solutions - which have now been the backbone in our IT operations. It is our goal to continue to work together to drive the digital transformation of our industry, improving data quality and connectivity with our customers in the process, and making our own processes more efficient as well. Together, we are creating considerable added value, especially for our customers."

Ashok Rajan, SVP, Head of Cargo & Logistics at IBS Software, says: "I view our decade strong partnership with Lufthansa Cargo with immense pride. It truly represents what can be accomplished through a partnership that goes above and beyond that of a buyer-supplier relationship. Our partnership has created several innovative business practices, many are industry firsts revolutionizing and improving quality across cargo operations in a rapidly changing industry. IBS is looking forward to continuing to drive value with and for Lufthansa for many years to come."

Dr. Jochen Göttelmann, CIO at Lufthansa Cargo, says: "We look back on the existing ten-year partnership with IBS in a thoroughly positive light. Together, we have further developed iCargo as a product in such a way that it provides us with excellent services on a daily basis at our Global Handling Hub in Frankfurt and in our worldwide operations. The intensive cooperation between IBS as a technology market leader and Lufthansa Cargo as an innovation driver makes our collaboration special to this day. The IBS teams convince us every time - with their know-how, but also with their commitment to live up to our claim of implementing innovations in airfreight. We are very much looking forward to furthering our cooperation."

About Lufthansa Cargo

With a turnover of 2.8 billion euros and a transport performance of 6.5 billion freight ton kilometers in 2020, Lufthansa Cargo is one of the world's leading companies in the transport of airfreight. The company currently employs around 4,400 people worldwide. Lufthansa Cargo's focus is on the airport-to-airport business. The route network covers around 300 destinations in more than 100 countries, using both freighter aircraft and cargo capacity from passenger aircraft operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings Discover and SunExpress, as well as trucks. The majority of the cargo business is handled via Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa Cargo aligns its corporate responsibility commitment with the sustainability goals of the United Nations (UN). Lufthansa Cargo has committed itself to anchoring five selected sustainability goals in its corporate activities and to making a substantial contribution to achieving these goals by the year 2030. Lufthansa Cargo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and the specialist for the logistics business of the Lufthansa Group. Further information can be found at https://lufthansa-cargo.com/

About IBS Software

IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise and hospitality industries. IBS Software's solutions for the aviation industry cover fleet & crew operations, aircraft maintenance, passenger services, loyalty programs, staff travel and air cargo management. IBS Software also runs a real-time B2B and B2C distribution platform providing hotel room inventory, rates and availability to a global network of hospitality companies and channels. For the tour and cruise industry, IBS provides a comprehensive, customer-centric, digital platform that covers onshore, online and on-board solutions. The Consulting and Digital Transformation (CDx) business focuses on driving digital transformation initiatives of its customers, leveraging its domain knowledge, digital technologies and engineering excellence. IBS Software is a Blackstone portfolio company and operates from 15 offices across the world. Further information can be found at https://www.ibsplc.com/.

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