Last year in the course “Strategic Issues of IT” students had the task to help participating companies with their Big Data strategy. Four companies participated in the course: Bundesdruckerei, Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs), Smart Pricer, and Cassantec.

This is what Moritz von Plate, CEO of Cassantec, said about the project cooperation:

“One of the biggest challenges regarding topics as Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things is staying agile and flexible. New market opportunities need to be found and assessed properly in order to keep up with the increasing speed of Information Technology- and Business Model-development.

The cooperation with the master program Business Intelligence & Process Management and the collaboration with the project team resulted in highly valuable insights for Cassantec. A detailed in-depth analysis of the market environment was conducted and several strategic scenarios were developed. These scenarios provided new market opportunities to enhance the approach and position of Cassantec – including implementation ideas and strategies.

Working together was a great experience. The team members were at all times reliable, supportive and convincing through their expertise and experience. The outcome of the project will have an impact on Cassantec’s activities and if anybody asked whether Cassantec would engage in such a cooperation again, the answer is a clear ‘Yes!’.”

Project Description

The aim of this project was to develop several business scenarios that support Cassantec’s strategy. In order to achieve this goal, several measures were conducted:

  • Analysis of Mechanical Engineering in Germany
  • Expert Interviews
  • Conference visits (e.g. Data Natives, TU Berlin)
  • Analysis of players in the market, such as OEMs and Predictive Analytics Companies
  • Analysis of Cassantec (e.g. Porters 5 Forces, SWOT)
  • Development of potential business scenarios
  • Evaluation of developed scenarios
  • Development of an implementation strategy

This project was conducted from October 2015 till March 2016 as part of the master program Business Intelligence & Process Management at the Berlin School of Economics and Law in cooperation with Cassantec GmbH. Supervisors were Prof. Dr. Sven Pohland and Prof. Dr. Roland M. Mueller.

Company Description

Cassantec is an independent provider of automated, high-end prognostic offerings for industrial asset management, malfunction risk analysis, remaining lifetime estimation, and optimal maintenance scheduling. Founded and incorporated in Switzerland in 2007, Cassantec is a privately owned company with strong ties to established players in the field of predictive maintenance, including condition monitoring technology owners and asset management software providers.

The company is co-located in Zurich, Switzerland and Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., and recently opened a branch in Berlin, Germany. The international presence allows Cassantec to be close to their customers. Cassantec is promoted by the Swiss government’s CTI program, and collaborates with leading international research institutions, including Stanford University, RWTH in Aachen, Germany, and EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Student Team