HSG and IT-Logix develop risk management solution for global production

The University of St.Gallen and the companies Endress+Hauser (Reinach, canton Basel-Land), Phoenix Contact (Tagelswangen, canton Zurich), Weidmann Electrical Technology (Rapperswil-Jona, canton St.Gallen), and IT-Logix (Bern) have developed a risk management solution to increase the resilience of companies with global production networks during times of crisis.

IT-Logix states in a press release that current geopolitical conflicts and socioeconomic developments have illustrated the fragility of these networks. The company adds that entrepreneurs must be able to respond to external influences early on and make strategic decisions based on sound risk assessments in order to remain competitive over the long term. The new systematic approach aims to enable this.

Thomas Friedli, Professor of Production Management and Director of the Institute of Technology Management at HSG, explains in a video about the project: “Even the failure of one location can severely disrupt the entire delivery process. If I don’t keep an eye on it, if I don’t continuously assess how these risks develop, I simply run the risk of being driven out of business completely.”

IT-Logix was responsible for implementing the new tool. The IT consultancy specializing in business intelligence, data analytics, data warehousing, and data science developed a dashboard with two features during the project. The first provides various visualizations for monitoring and analyzing country risks on a site-wide and network level. The second is a “what if…?” function that the company can use to simulate strategic decisions based on external influencing factors and country risks.

The Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse has provided 8 million Swiss francs to support this hands-on research. ce/mm