Risk analysis in project management for commercial vehicle projects

🔧 Risks in the project? Welcome to reality.

Whether it's a new truck model, an attachment for municipal vehicles or a modular electronics platform - commercial vehicle projects are complex. Technically. Organizationally. In terms of time.

And that's exactly why:

👉 Anyone who only "thinks along" with risks has already lost.

👉 Those who analyze, evaluate and manage them in a structured manner remain in control - even in the event of delivery delays, design changes or resource bottlenecks.

🧭 What is a risk analysis anyway?

Risk analysis is a key tool in project management to

• identify potential hazards at an early stage

• plan suitable countermeasures

• but also to identify opportunities and systemic uncertainties
  
  

Typical risk areas in commercial vehicle development:

• Change of supplier in the middle of the development phase

• New technologies without long-term experience

• Tricky interfaces between hardware and software

• Resource fluctuation in the engineering team

• New standards such as ECE guidelines

🚛 Why are commercial vehicle projects particularly risky?

Compared to traditional automotive development, the commercial vehicle sector poses special challenges:

✅ Long life cycles & high variant diversity
✅ Individual customer requirements & one-off production
✅ Tight deadlines for tenders
✅ Strong dependence on external partners
✅ Complex mechanics-software-electronics interlocking

➡️ The result: increased coordination effort - and therefore more risk.

🧠 Step-by-step to a solid risk analysis

✅ 1. risk identification

What could go wrong?

🔍 Risks are systematically recorded - e.g. via

• Workshops with stakeholders

• Interviews with technical experts

• Lessons learned from previous projects

Examples from practice:

• Control unit does not meet EMC limits

• Software unstable in real-time operation

• Approval delayed by the KBA

• Project management changes on the customer side

📊 2nd risk assessment

How likely? How serious?

Typically with a risk matrix:

• Probability of occurrence (low / medium / high)

• Impact (costs, quality, schedule)

➡️ Result: A risk priority value (RPN) for informed decision-making.

🧯 3. risk management

Which strategy do we choose?

Four options in the toolbox:

1. Avoid - e.g. change design, exclude critical suppliers at an early stage

2. Reduce - through prototype tests, safety margins, milestones

3. Transfer - through contracts, insurance, partner responsibility

4. Accept - if the risk is acceptable

🔁 4. risk controlling & communication

A risk is not a static object. It changes.

🎯 That's why it needs

• a risk logbook

• or even better: a digital solution like COMAN

Advantages:

• Risks always up to date

• Clear responsibilities

• Automatic escalations when thresholds are exceeded

📉 What happens without risk analysis?

• Escalations hit unprepared

• Root cause analyses take too long

• Trust between partners dwindles

• Follow-up projects are hampered by overregulation

In short: a lack of risk management costs - time, money and credibility.

💡 Best practice: thinking digitally about risk analysis

Modern tools such as COMAN integrate risk management directly into project tracking.

🎯 Functions at a glance:

• Link risks with project objects

• Traffic light logic for visibility

• Real-time documentation of measures

• Automatic reminders for escalations

➡️ This ensures transparency, accountability and less Excel chaos.

🧭 Conclusion

Projects don't fail because of problems - they fail because they are recognized too late.

In the commercial vehicle industry, risk analysis is not a luxury, but a survival strategy.

✔ Those who recognize risks before they occur
✔ Who defines measures before there is a fire
✔ who act in a structured manner instead of reactively

...lead projects more safely, efficiently and successfully to their goal.