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.
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
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.
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
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.
Which strategy do we choose?
Four options in the toolbox:
Avoid - e.g. change design, exclude critical suppliers at an early stage
Reduce - through prototype tests, safety margins, milestones
Transfer - through contracts, insurance, partner responsibility
Accept - if the risk is acceptable
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
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.
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.
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.