Children’s Day Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind Linnanmäki Amusement Park, has taken significant steps forward in knowledge-based management in cooperation with Islet. In the multi-phase project, the Foundation’s reporting and analytics solution was replaced with a modern cloud-based data platform and comprehensive Power BI reporting, as well as analytics capabilities. The new solution will help Linnanmäki optimise the customer experience, manage resources better and support the foundation’s important work.
Starting point – limited use of information
The goal of the Children’s Day Foundation is to enable memorable entertainment experiences and at the same time raise funds for child welfare work. However, the operational management of Linnanmäki Amusement Park was largely based on an outdated reporting system that relied on the information architecture maintained by an external supplier. The previous solution was technically outdated, limited and difficult to expand. In practice, day-to-day knowledge-based management relied on Excel reports, and a significant part of the reporting work was manual, which limited the ability to make agile decisions.
The challenges of the reporting solution included downtime, a limited number of data sources, and the limited possibility to produce more in-depth analytics. Linnanmäki’s systems could only provide individual financial and operational indicators, and if the data needed to be combined more extensively with budget or other information, an external service provider had to be contacted. Therefore, the foundation of knowledge-based management needed a thorough overhaul so that the organisation could monitor and optimise its operations and support its core mission for child welfare work.
The solution – phased modernization and scalable data platform with Lakehouse architecture
Islet and the Children’s Day Foundation started their cooperation with a data roadmap project, the purpose of which was to define the future target state of knowledge management in Linnanmäki and to create an enterprise architecture that would support the organisation’s long-term goals. During this consultation work, key data source systems, data enrichment opportunities, and technologies such as the Microsoft Azure-based data platform and Power BI tool for analytics and visualization were identified.
The first concrete development step was the implementation of Power BI’s Proof of Concept (POC) on top of Linnanmäki’s existing data architecture. This POC project helped Linnanmäki understand the potential of Power BI as a modern analytics tool and received positive feedback from the organization, which strengthened the decision to expand the solution.
In the next phase, Islet implemented a new data platform with Lakehouse architecture (Medallion architecture) for the Microsoft Azure cloud service. The core of the solution is Azure Synapse Analytics, which enables efficient data management and import from multiple source systems, such as the foundation’s ERP system, HR systems and POS system. The solution utilizes Azure’s Data Lake, where data is gathered from different systems and creates a basis for analysis and reporting. Weather data from the interface of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has also been imported into the solution. This makes it possible to assess the impact of weather conditions on customer flows, profitability and operational actions.
Islet expanded the system to include new data sources and reporting entities. Reports built on top of Power BI now serve a wide range of functions – from financial administration and personnel planning to the operational management of the amusement park. The reporting takes into account, among other things, financial information, personnel costs, equipment usage data and maintenance measures, as well as data from ticketing and POS systems.
Benefits – up-to-date information enables agile decision-making and optimisation of customer experience
With the help of the new architecture, Linnanmäki has taken significant leaps in knowledge-based management. The cloud-based data platform and Power BI reporting solution have brought significant benefits, such as data transparency and openness for the entire organization. Up-to-date information enables more accurate operational planning, especially during high seasons when customer numbers vary greatly. Today, every permanent employee has access to Power BI reports and can track metrics related to the business intelligence that matters to them.
One of the most concrete examples of data utilization is combining weather data with customer and operational data. The impact of weather on the amusement park’s customer flows is significant, and forecasts enable resource optimisation even before customer flows arrive.
The cloud-based and visual solution provides us with an up-to-date view of our operations and supports decision-making in situations where previously we could only have acted retrospectively.
Separate reporting entities have been implemented for Linnanmäki’s different functions: weekly reporting for financial monitoring, reporting on the use and maintenance of amusement park equipment for equipment services, reporting tools targeted at corporate sales, sales analysis for restaurant operations, and more detailed data analyses for game sales. In addition, a comprehensive dashboard has been built for managing the amusement park, which is used to monitor the core indicators.
The development journey continues
It has been a special honour for Islet to work with an organisation such as the Children’s Day Foundation, which does important work for child welfare services.
We are happy to be able to support the Children’s Day Foundation in the development of knowledge-based management. It has been great to see how Linnanmäki has turned data into a genuine part of decision-making and business development. The importance of cooperation is especially emphasised when we can help an organisation whose work supports socially significant goals.
Linnanmäki still has a development journey ahead of it, as the organisation wants to continue to improve its knowledge-based management capabilities. The aim is also to strengthen internal expertise so that the utilisation of data can be further expanded within the organisation.
The new knowledge-based management solution has opened up completely new opportunities to understand and develop our business. We are only at the beginning of our journey, but the cooperation with Islet has given us excellent capabilities to integrate knowledge management into our everyday operations.
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The Children’s Day Foundation is a Finnish foundation that maintains and develops Linnanmäki Amusement Park in Helsinki. The foundation’s mission is to raise funds for Finnish child welfare work for six child welfare organisations. Year after year, Linnanmäki Amusement Park offers joy and experiences from one generation of fun to another, and at the same time, the profits from the amusement park’s operations support child welfare work.
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