Speed as Competitive Advantage: CoMaTec Enters the New Mobility Market

CoMaTec is a family-owned and mid-sized world market leader for lightweight 3D printed metal parts in the automotive industry. The company is innovation-driven and has realized its first successful projects and product launches in the new mobility market segment. After having internally invested significant amounts of engineering and financial resources into a customer-specific development of innovative and performance-enhancing parts, the CEO of CoMaTec receives the contract for batch production from the new emerging electric automotive OEM ALSET. However, the timing for the final development stage and the start of production (SOP) deviates distinctly from all prior agreements and planning. The significantly tightened timing would put the company at tremendous financial risk if the deadlines were to be missed. Should the CEO accept the contract? Which mitigation strategies present an option for managing emerging risks?