Initially, when looking at any topic or field the fundamental question pops up: Build it yourself or buy it from a supplier in a market. This question is the only real strategic question when it comes to procurement. Other aspects, such as procurement strategy, have a much to do with strategy as a bunch of … Continue reading Procurement: Make or Buy
A topic that has intrigued me throughout my life so far is the topic of procurement. Not because I think it is very attractive or sexy, but because it can enable or be a show-stopper to implement great ideas. Two weeks ago, I had, with a variety of customers, colleagues and friends in various settings … Continue reading Procurement: Overview
A thing that is bothering for over twenty years is that transport does not seem to attract significant investments and innovations in its sectors. While the IT industry still follows Moor's law (respectively an abrevation of it), transport does not seem to evolve and attract disrupting new players. The role of private players in transport … Continue reading Why Transportation does not attract relevant Startups
Finally 2018 arrived and a exciting sometimes divisive and decisive 2017 ended. Certainly, the shift in US politics from a pro sustainable energy to a pro fossile energy has create a changing climate for projects in the US as well as in other countries. Nevertheless, Europe and Chine are surpassing the US in technical development … Continue reading Reflections and predictions in the transportation industry 2017/2018
We have reached now a computation power where machine learning algorithms can easily be applied across a spectrum of industries to resolve a huge variety of problems. While first successes are also published in the railway industry this also opens up the market for what I call "snake-oil-resellers". Companies or individuals that use publicly available models, claim … Continue reading Predictive Maintenance – selling snake oil to a gullible audience
We all wanted to have a solid and fast ERTMS deployment across Europe, but so far the project is not gaining speed and only a few projects could be deployed. What did go wrong and how can we redesign the approach to faster reach our common objectives? To cut it short, in my opinion, there … Continue reading Redesign ERTMS deployment across Europe
This fall, the Swiss transport authority (Bundesamt für Verkehr -BAV) announced the plans to invest heavily in railway infrastructure until 2035. Over 200 Projects and 11.5 bn CHF will be invested in tunnels, concrete and steel across the country. Last Sunday, an NZZ article (in German) has allowed an alternative view on the intended infrastructure … Continue reading Investing in concrete or intelligence
