The 149th General Meeting of the SVTI Swiss Association for Technical Inspections took place on 21 June 2018 in Olten. Around 220 members were present. The SVTI looks back on a successful business year 2017. The economic upturn was clearly noticeable. The second half of the year was dominated by the planned merger of the three subsidiaries.

Under the motto "One Company - One Brand", Swiss TS Technical Services AG, IWT Institut für Werkstofftechnologie AG and Swissi AG merged to form Swiss Safety Center AG on 1 January 2018. Dr. Raffael Schubiger, CEO of Swiss Safety Center AG, will also assume the role of Director of SVTI at the beginning of 2019.

Develop competencies

In addition to its diverse day-to-day business, the SVTI Group continued to develop its projects on the topics of Industry 4.0, functional safety and, more generally, in connection with increasing digitalisation in the year under review. In this context, it particularly values the exchange of experience with other organisations such as the German-based Verband der Technischen Überwachungsvereine (VdTÜV) and research institutions such as the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen. In addition to its range of services, the SVTI Group is also continuously expanding its comprehensive training and continuing education program.

Unexpected difficulties on the part of the façade builder led to delays in the construction of the SVTI Group's extension in Wallisellen. However, it now appears that the extension can be put into operation around the coming turn of the year.

Solid operating results at inspectorate and Group level

SVTI posted an operating result of CHF 880 100 for the 2017 financial year (previous year: CHF 869 492). Non-operating income, which relates to the business property in Wallisellen, was also positive at CHF 102 176. The consolidated annual result thus amounts to CHF 307 468 (previous year: CHF 287 261). The consolidated financial statements at SVTI Group level (incl. associated company SVTI Services Ltd and subsidiaries) show a consolidated activity volume of CHF 44.46 million. The consolidated operating result of the Group is CHF 1.72 million (previous year: CHF 1.15 million).

Outlook

The SVTI Group is looking forward with confidence to its 150th year as an association. The aim is to further strengthen its role as the safety conscience of the nation and its presence as a centre of excellence for technical safety and risk management. Last but not least, the consistent implementation of the various strategy projects that support the digitalisation of the SVTI Group's services to the benefit of our customers should also contribute to this.

At the beginning of 2019, Dr. Raffael Schubiger will take on the role of Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of the SVTI in addition to his role as CEO of Swiss Safety Center AG. His predecessor, Dr Herbert Egolf, will continue to support the SVTI in a reduced capacity.

www.safetycenter.ch

Currently, 17 %s of the respondents have not yet launched a robotic process automation (RPA) project. Another 52 %s are in the process of designing and piloting initial projects. The remaining third are pioneers and have already converted at least ten business processes to RPA.

"In the next two years, the picture will be completely reversed," says Andreas Lüth, Partner at ISG Information Services Group, Head of Robotic Process and Cognitive Automation DACH, and explains: "Only 6 % of the respondents stated that they would still not start their own RPA project by 2020. In contrast, 60 % of the companies hold out the prospect of having at least ten RPA processes up and running by 2020. More than half of the latter expressed the will to hand over more than 25 business processes to software robots by then."

DACH region shows high value 

In the European context, this is a high value. Compared to the respondents from the DACH region, the number of companies that want to grow into the RPA world particularly quickly was a third lower in the rest of Europe. The comparative figure comes from a parallel survey that ISG conducted at the same time among 250 European companies outside the DACH region.

 What is robot-controlled process automation?

With RPA, technologies are available for the first time that can be used to automate business processes without having to adapt the processes or the IT systems that support them. Software robots are used that enter data into the user interfaces of the IT systems involved in the process from a purely virtual level.

"Thus, RPA is particularly suitable for the automation of transaction-heavy business processes in which the process-supporting IT systems are not sufficiently networked," explains Andreas Lüth. "Compared to classic automation approaches, which are linked to process reengineering as well as adjustments in the IT systems, RPA technologies offer a much simpler way to significantly increase the productivity and quality of an existing business process."

 How are the RPA budgets developing?

Three quarters of the companies surveyed from the DACH region report a noticeable increase in their RPA budgets in the current fiscal year. Compared to 2017, the funds available increased by at least 10 % in 54 % of the cases. One in seven companies reported increases between 11 and 20 %. In one in twelve, the RPA budget even increased by more than 20 %. Only 9 % of respondents indicated no change at all, while the remaining 6 % acknowledged a budget reduction compared to 2017.

 Who pays?

In the DACH region, the topic of RPA is driven much more strongly from the IT organizations than is the case in the rest of Europe: While in the rest of Europe the IT areas and the shared services organizations invest in equal parts in RPA, in the DACH sector IT makes considerably more advance investments. This is particularly true for the share of direct investments: 31 % of the RPA projects to date are attributable to direct investments by IT. At 16 %, the comparative value in the shared services sector is just half as high.

In contrast, chargeback models (pay-as-you-go procedures) are used to a similar extent by both areas. IT uses this instrument in 16 % and the shared services area in 17 % of the cases. The remaining RPA projects are financed by the specialist departments (16 %) and via existing service provider contracts (5 %).

 Who's wearing the hat?

In four out of five companies, the CIO is responsible or at least accountable for purchasing decisions in the area of RPA. With a comparative value of 73 %, the CFO is right behind. Increasing decision-making authority is also being given to the Head of Automation. This still relatively new leadership role is already found in a third of the respondents.

In 50 % of the companies where there is a Head of Automation, this person shares responsibility with the CIO and CFO for the decision to purchase RPA solutions.

 What is currently holding back the use of robots?

43 % of respondents see security concerns as the top barrier to the adoption of RPA technologies. Eight percentage points behind is the fear that greater use of RPA could lead to difficulties in the area of governance, risk and compliance (GRC). In general, organizational topics lead the field of the most strongly cited obstacles.

Four of the five most important obstacles can be assigned to this area. So also the concern about organisational political resistance to the use of RPA. A concern shared by 33 % of respondents. A further 30 % of respondents explicitly cite the lack of backing from senior management as an obstacle. Another 30 % cite insufficient support from IT.

Comparing the DACH results with the responses in the rest of Europe, two major differences stand out. The first concerns the assessment of the budget situation. While only a quarter of the respondents in the DACH region saw budget constraints as an obstacle, one in three companies in the rest of Europe expressed this view. There were even greater differences when it came to the lack of a business case. While only one in eleven respondents in the German-speaking region considered this point to be one of the top obstacles, the comparable figure in the rest of Europe was over one third.

Where in the value chain will RPA have the greatest impact?

In the DACH region, the most frequently mentioned field of application is in the area of purchasing, logistics and supply chain. This area accounted for 44 % of the responses. In second place (42 %) - and in first place in the rest of Europe (43 %) - is the area of customer support and order processing. Far behind, with just 6 % and 7 % of the responses respectively, was the area of industry-specific processes at the very bottom of the response scale.

The results for Germany, Austria and Switzerland are part of a Europe-wide RPA study by ISG. You can find detailed results here

Certificate handover on 19.06.2018 in Arlesheim: ISO 9001:2015 certification for Würth AG

On June 19, 2018, the ceremonial handover of the certificate took place in Arlesheim. In the photo, front from left to right: Oliver Lüken (Würth AG/QM), Michael Zimmer (TÜV Süd Management Service AG), Claudio Caruso (Würth AG/Head of Safety and Quality) and Marc Baumgartner (Würth AG/CEO). In the back: Marcel Janssen (Würth AG/QM). (Picture: zVg)

The Certification body of TÜV SÜD Management Service GmbH certifies that Würth AG is a leader in the market launch of new products and in the sale of assembly and fastening materials, standard parts, chemical products, tools, machines and storage systems. Quality management system according to ISO 9001:2015 successfully introduced and implemented.

ISO 9001:2015 - Quality as the top priority

The successful audit shows that Würth AG meets the strict requirements of ISO 9001:2015. This internationally recognized certificate stands for compliance with high standards in terms of quality assurance and continuous improvement.

With the ISO certification, Würth AG guarantees its customers and suppliers:

• High product and service quality: The expectations and needs of customers are reliably met.
• Traceable processesTransparency and quality assurance take center stage.
• Continuous improvementWürth AG focuses on sustainable optimization in order to meet the increasing demands of the market.

Würth AG - a reliable partner for quality

The certification underlines the commitment of Würth AG to always offer products and services in the usual Würth quality. Customers and suppliers benefit from a reliable partner who is committed to the highest quality standards.

Find out more about Würth AG's quality standards and commitment [insert link to relevant page here].

www.wuerth-ag.ch

For the third time, the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK publishes a report on Creative Economies. This time the topic is "Entrepreneurial strategies for a 'Positive Economy'": After the first two reports focused on the creative scene and the interface with other industries, the focus is now on entrepreneurial strategies. The term "positive economy" refers to models and considerations of how artists and designers bundle their various opportunities into suitable entrepreneurial arrangements. Empirically based, the latest figures and comprehensive statistics on the creative industries are published. As in previous reports, data on the number of employees and company size in the submarkets are presented, supplemented by maps of the regional concentration of the industry in Switzerland.

The report paints a multi-faceted picture of this sub-sector of the economy and contributes to the understanding of new business models. It addresses issues around digitalisation and examines how it influences the business models of art and design practitioners. Co-author of the study and Director of the Department of Cultural Analysis and Mediation Christoph Weckerle: "It becomes clear that business models in the Creative Economies hardly separate creation and production processes anymore and thus differ from "conventional" entrepreneurial models." Embedded in the report are portraits of actors in cultural professions worldwide: based on over 120 interviews, they provide insight into diverse artistic lifeworlds and their entrepreneurial strategies.

"Creative Economies Report Switzerland 2018"

The report is published by the CreativeEconomies research venture of the ZHdK, in collaboration with the RISE Management Innovation Lab of the University of St.Gallen. Cooperation partner is the Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich.

Authors

• Christoph Weckerle, Director of the Department of Cultural Analysis and Communication, Zurich University of the Arts, Co-Curator CreativeEconomies research venture.
• Simon Grand, Titular Professor and Lecturer in Strategic Management and Management Innovation, Founder and Academic Director RISE Management Innovation Lab, University of St.Gallen, Co-Curator CreativeEconomies research venture.
• Frédéric Martel, researcher and author, Research Fellow CreativeEconomies research venture, Department of Cultural Analysis and Mediation, Zurich University of the Arts.
• Roman Page, Data Analyst, Research Associate, Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich.
• Fabienne Schmuki, cultural journalist, managing director Irascible Music.

CreativeEconomies research venture. Co-Curators: Christoph Weckerle, Simon Grand. Contributors: Frédéric Martel, Roman Page and Fabienne Schmuki. Editor: Janine Schiller. Zurich University of the Arts, Cultural Analysis, 2018.

The full study "Entrepreneurial Strategies for a Positive Economy - 3rd Creative Economies Report Switzerland 2018" can be downloaded at.

www.creativeeconomies.com and will be available for download in English from 20 June 2018. A French and German version will also be available for download from autumn 2018.

The signs for Switzerland as a workplace are good again. The time is therefore ideal to set the course for the future and to drive innovation in the companies. Digitalisation already plays an important role for a large majority of Swiss industrial companies.

However, many companies are still at the very beginning of the transformation process when it comes to making digital business models "fit for everyday use".

Revise revenue models 

"The Swiss workplace is becoming more digital and networked. Industry 4.0 is no longer an abstract buzzword for many industrial companies. The current economically quiet growth phase may be short-lived and must therefore be used to review deferred investments for current relevance and then drive innovations forward.

Those who fail to position themselves well now will be in dire straits during the next crisis in the euro zone," says Konstantin von Radowitz, Head of Consumer & Industrial Products at Deloitte Switzerland.

The most important industry trends at a glance:

• Economic Outlook: Expectations among Swiss CFOs in the retail and MEM sectors are more positive than ever before, with 87% of respondents positive about the outlook for the Swiss economy over the next 12 months.
• Business development: Swiss CFOs from the manufacturing sector are more positive about their company's financial outlook than most CFOs in other European countries, with the exception of CFOs in France, who are the most optimistic.
• Growth prospects: In terms of sales and operating margins, CFOs in Switzerland are much more positive than in the previous six months, and also in comparison with other countries such as Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
• Investment expectations: Most Swiss CFOs in the manufacturing sector expect an increase in investment, which is also true for all other European countries, although they are somewhat less optimistic about growth in the number of employees.
• Strategic Priorities: To maintain their competitive edge, Swiss MEM companies must invest in digital technologies, according to 89% of respondents. In particular, the improvement of processes (89%) and the further development of business models (74%) as well as the further training of digital skills (71%) and the hiring of new specialists (70%) are innovation and growth drivers.

More studies and evaluations from Deloitte can be found at this Link

Strategic Federal Command Exercise (SFU) sounds like a big challenge, but fortunately there are experts:

Erika Laubacher-Kubat, Deputy Head of the Strategic Command Support Section in the Federal Chancellery, did an excellent job at this event organised by the Risk Management Network of explaining the challenges and solutions to be considered in a large-scale exercise.

She pointed out that clear guidelines for action are a key factor in determining whether an exercise is successful or not.

General conditions

If the framework conditions are precisely defined, this creates confidence among the "exercised". Another key point is that the contents of the scenario must be correct. The various trading scenarios were therefore developed with technical specialists. The exercise thus proved to be close to reality and was taken correspondingly seriously. The recommendations resulting from the exercise, which the Federal Council adopted at the beginning of May 2018, were also taken seriously.

The exercise scenario

In a second part, the participants worked out a possible exercise scenario themselves. There was lively discussion about who should be represented in a crisis team and who should report on the exercise as a critical observer. The discussions within the groups were intensive and the results remarkably detailed.

Rolf Götschmann, Head of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of the Federal Department of Finance, gave a fascinating insight into the role of a crisis team. Self-critically, he pointed out that the resilience within the crisis team had been overestimated, that the premises were not suitable for a longer stay and that certain preparatory work - for example draft minutes - was lacking.

The need for action has been identified and the deficiencies will be addressed by mid-2018.

Nicole Heynen, President of the Risk Management Network, highlighted the role of the observer in the Border Guard Corps crisis team. The latter reacted quickly to the crisis situation and led in a structured manner. Even a real power cut in the crisis unit's building could not upset the crisis organisation.

Further information on critical large-scale projects and strategic countermeasures can be found at

http://www.netzwerk-risikomanagement.ch

The city of Thun wins the OKI Innovation Award for its "Futuricum" electric waste collection vehicle. Also nominated were the joint solution of the cities of Morges and Pully for the electronic processing of excavation applications and the experience-oriented and interactive visitor tour of the Thurgau waste incineration plant (KVA).

The winning project of the city of Thun convinced the jury through the combination of technical innovations, the contribution to climate protection and the pioneering role assumed by the public sector. The successful communication, which clearly informs the population about the closed energy cycle, was also convincing.

Novel innovation award

The joint digital platform for processing excavation applications of the cities of Pully and Morges and the new interactive visitor experience at the Thurgau waste recycling plant made it onto the shortlist. The jury praised the electronic processing platform of the cities in western Switzerland as a successful e-government project. The tour of the waste incineration plant is forward-looking, the jury praised. It makes waste recycling accessible to all generations in a modern and attractive way.

The Innovation Award of the Organisation of Municipal Infrastructure (OKI) honours innovative projects with pilot character of cities, municipalities and inter-municipal special-purpose associations that facilitate, optimise and make the operation and use of municipal infrastructures customer-friendly. Solutions from the fields of technology, management and communication were sought.

"It would be nice if the OKI Innovation Award served to encourage cities and municipalities to share best-practice solutions with each other," explains OKI President Alain Jaccard during the award ceremony at the OKI General Assembly in Bellinzona on 15 June 2018.

www.kommunale-infrastruktur.ch

The Circle at Zurich Airport - a technology partnership for the future: Innovative control and operating concepts are to increase the quality in and around the buildings. The Circle can thus be operated more efficiently, which will have a positive impact on costs.

The project, costing around one billion euros, is currently under construction at Zurich Airport. Work is not only being carried out on a purely physical level, but also on a digital level: this May, Flughafen Zürich AG and Microsoft, which will one day move into its new Swiss headquarters in the 3500 square metre building, announced that they are cooperating on the digitalisation of the Circle.

Internet of Things platform

Specifically, according to a statement from Flughafen Zürich AG, the plan is to set up an "Internet of Things" platform via which digital services will be offered to employees and visitors to The Circle. The vision: that the entire Circle is digitally networked.

Microsoft and the airport management envisage a virtual concierge, for example, who will find ideal routes for passengers through the Circle, and who will provide information after landing, for example, about where the cheapest coffee is currently available. - Digitization should make it possible for "signposts" to adapt individually to the user, tenants can even regulate the room temperature, and they can safely connect their computers to the screens installed in the rooms.

This technology offers new opportunities to interact with customers, particularly for tenants in the retail, hospitality and conference sectors, it says. For tenants of office space, the digital solutions will help them make the most of the space and adapt it to the changing needs of the organisation.

Zurich Airport further announces that construction work on the major project is progressing according to plan. Completion is planned for the end of 2019 and the opening for 2020.

http://www.thecircle.ch

The presentations at neo.forum were given by Bernhard Rytz (SBB) on SmartRail 4.0, Urs Elber as Managing Director of EMPA on NEST, and Mathias Burtscher (Head ATC Intl. Airports) on virtualization at Skyguide.

Individual workshops

Board member of Netzwerk Risikomanagement Jens Meissner gave a presentation on innovation risks in technical diving.

A series of subsequent workshops facilitated interactive discussions on disruptive innovation, design thinking, energy industry challenges and the risk dialogue method (sponsored by the Risk Management Network).

In the workshop on risk dialogue, Anna-Lena Köng from the Risk Dialogue Foundation spoke about the challenges of a project in the energy sector as well as about the dialogue initiative on the digital society that is currently underway.

The icing on the cake was provided by the improvisation group "Wir & Jetzt", which skilfully picked up on impulses from the event. The event was rounded off with a sumptuous aperitif.

http://netzwerk-risikomanagement.ch

Where the Basic Data Protection Regulation DSGVO does not play into everywhere! - The Manufacturing Execution System (MES) HYDRA from MPDV ensures on the one hand that manufacturing companies of all sizes and industries can produce more efficiently. On the other hand, it also supports responsible handling of personal data.

For this purpose, the MES provides a fine-grained authorization concept as well as many tried-and-tested functions for controlling responsibilities and areas of responsibility. In this way, users can control that only those employees can see and process personal data who are authorized to do so or who need this data for a defined purpose.

With a view to Industry 4.0

With these tools, the requirements of the DSGVO can be implemented appropriately in the HYDRA MES. HYDRA, the modular MES from MPDV, fully covers the requirements of VDI Guideline 5600 with its extensive range of functions. The individual HYDRA applications can be combined on the basis of a central MES database as required and without interfaces.

HYDRA thus ensures a 360° view of all resources involved in production and can also seamlessly map overlapping processes. Powerful tools for configuration and customizing ensure that HYDRA can be individually aligned to industry and company-specific requirements within wide limits.

HYDRA integrates into existing IT landscapes and serves as a link between manufacturing (shop floor) and the management level (e.g. ERP system). With an MES system like HYDRA, manufacturing companies remain responsive and thus ensure their competitiveness - also with a view to Industry 4.0.

MPDV Mikrolab GmbH (www.mpdv.com), based in Mosbach, Germany, develops modular Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and draws on more than 40 years of project experience in the manufacturing environment.

Swiss Infosec (Deutschland) GmbH, a subsidiary of Swiss Infosec AG, has started its work in time for the entry into force of the GDPR. The legally compliant implementation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) poses particular challenges for Swiss companies that do not have a branch in the European Union (EU) but are active there.

Article 27 of the GDPR requires these companies to appoint a representative in the EU in writing, for example to facilitate contact and correspondence with EU authorities.

Relief for companies without an EU establishment

Since a large number of Swiss companies without an EU branch are affected by the GDPR through activities in and with Germany and the appointment of a representative in Germany therefore meets a major customer need, Swiss Infosec AG has founded the subsidiary Swiss Infosec (Deutschland) GmbH, based in Berlin.

Infosec's data protection experts act as local representatives for these companies and ensure that you comply with Article 27 of the GDPR.

http://www.infosec.ch

How, they asked themselves on Swiss Quality Day 2018, could they keep up with the times and optimise work processes? "Everything is changing. Processes need to be adapted - certainly perspectives are needed: Considerations from an existing point of view", Peter Bieri, Managing Director of the Swiss Association for Quality (SAQ), opened this year's Swiss Quality Day in front of around 380 motivated quality managers.

What life and in particular the working world will look like tomorrow, what effects, for example, digitalisation will have on leaders, where quality development and quality management will go in the future, and above all: how perspectives could be developed and used? These questions were discussed with great commitment.

New forms of work

"Actually," said Prof. Dr. Jens O. Meissner, "organizations have always been subject to change, see virtual processes and innovations in the 1980s," introduced the Professor of Organization and Innovation, co-director of the Master's program in Risk Management at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts HSLU in developments of the Creativity and resilience research.

In itself, digitalization is nothing new in process development. However, technological developments, such as 24/7 presence times and advancing processes, have transformed the world of work in recent years to such an extent that new expectations and risks have emerged.

To respond to these changing circumstances, web-based companies such as Amazon, Uber or Spotify no longer rely on typical work hierarchies, but on so-called holocracies (see also Management & Quality 2018/05):

"Our society," says Jens Meissner, "is experiencing transparency and participatory involvement opportunities demanded through all levels. "Likewise, says the resilience researcher, in larger networks and companies, there are not only more favorable work structures, but also precisely siloed perceptions and "risks that are increasingly quickly encapsulated."

Man or machine?

What impact do such trends and changing role models have on people? Prof. Dr. Toni Wäfler from the FHNW University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland introduced "Human-Technology Interaction in the Digitalized World of Work" in a concrete way in the second conference presentation. It spoke of both specialization through new technologies and the dissolution of organizational boundaries.

The professor supports the fact that adaptive systems (keyword artificial intelligence) offer immense opportunities in monotonous processes or in highly critical areas. The "human being remains a bearer of experience" as long as he makes decisions, takes responsibility and shows commitment, according to some of the reasons given by the FHNW lecturer.

Ultimately, it was important not to deal passively with digital change processes. Toni Wäfler said that people, or rather employees, could certainly use perspectives and potential if they "not only complement" the machine, but could justify their actions and negotiate with other people.

The meeting place for quality managers

Quality has led the Swiss economy to success. In times of change, it is more important than ever before. Those responsible for quality are therefore even more challenged. The Swiss Quality Day is an important forum for supporting people on their professional journey. Beat Häfliger led deep into the world of SQS auditors and SME representatives with a practice-oriented "future workshop".

Beat Häfliger, the Managing Director of SAQ-Qualicon AG, took the conference guests on an expedition where QM managers reported on their professional roles "yesterday - today - tomorrow".

Representatives of SMEs and companies shed light on their personal challenges, turning points and concrete implementations of management models. Ulrike Sollmann, Head of Quality Management, gave an introduction to Corporate and Compliance Management at Hirslanden AG. Michael Baumgartner, Head of Quality, reported on the globally aligned, modular Warehouse & Distribution Solutions of Swisslog AG. Marco Schöpf, Head of Quality Management, PostMail, reported that each and every employee of Post CH AG was trained to improve processes - using the Kaizen method originating in Japan.

During the "Future Workshop", the conference participants were also able to contribute their experiences and views in a quality barometer via mobile phone.

Top performance

The development through digitalization and globalization constantly opens up new perspectives, but also individual development perspectives that were hardly imaginable just a few years ago.

The Swiss Quality Day provided a balanced spectrum of insights into the opportunities and dangers of digitalisation.

Symbolic values were also the subject of the lecture "Change through design - new banknotes for Switzerland", in which graphic designer Manuela Pfrunder spoke about her more than 13 years of work for the Swiss central bank and about her meticulous redesign of the 10th series of banknotes (see forthcoming issue Management & Quality 2018/06).

Other conference speakers such as Frederike Asael, Co-Founder Community Host of the Impact Hub, Bern, and certainly Chrigel Maurer, the multiple world champion in paragliding, also showed a lot of courage and will. Finally, the "Swiss Quality Day" showed once again that top performances of any kind usually require a lot of expertise and preparation time, and all the more patience and commitment.

www.tsq.swiss/