Marc
Sachon

Head of Operations, Information and Technology

Professor of Operations, Information and Technology

• Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Stanford University
• MBA, IESE Business School
• Master in Aerospace-Technology, University of Stuttgart

International Center for Logistics Research (CIIL)

Marc Sachon is a Professor and Head of the Operations, Information and Technology Department at IESE Business School.

He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (MS&E) from Stanford University, an MBA from IESE, University of Navarra, and a Master in Aerospace Technology from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Prof. Sachon is a member of the Executive Education Academic Committee, where he monitors all custom programs of IESE. He is the academic director of all Advanced Management Programs (AMP) and the focused programs “Driving Change Successfully”, “Achieving Operational Excellence” and “Industry 4.0”. He is the Chairman of the Automotive Industry Meeting (IESE AUTO), held annually since 1986.

As academic director Prof. Sachon has been involved in designing and delivering programs for clients ranging from BMW Group, Haniel Group, Phoenix Group, TRATON Group to Roland Berger and other leading companies.

Prof. Sachon teaches Operations Strategy, Industry 4.0 and Operations Management in IESE´s senior executive programs. This also includes blended or purely online programs. He also teaches courses in IESE´s Executive-MBA and Global Executive-MBA programs, where his students have done company-sponsored team projects for more than 15 years, presenting to senior executives of companies like BMW, Coca-Cola, or Media-Markt. He has been a guest professor at universities and business schools in Colombia, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Russia and Saudi Arabia. He has received multiple teaching awards.

His research focuses on operations strategy (especially in the automotive industry) and Industry 4.0. He has published in academic journals such as IEEE Transactions and in business journals such as European Business Forum (EBF).

Prof. Sachon has written chapters for several books on operations management and process improvement. He has co-authored three books on the state of the Chinese automotive industry. His case studies are among those most widely distributed by IESE (e.g., Aldi, Porsche, Netflix).

Prior to entering academia, he worked at Airbus Germany and IBM Germany. As a consultant, he has taken part in projects in different industries, from airlines to automotive, fashion, FMCG, logistics, pharmaceuticals and utility companies. He serves on the board of directors of a startup company in mobility.

Prof. Sachon is based IESE´s Barcelona campus.

Areas of interest.

* Operations strategy
* Industry 4.0
* Supply Chain Management
* Verticals: Automotive, Manufacturing, Hard Discounters

Publications

Journal Articles (refereed)

SACHON, M., PATÉ CORNELL, M. E. (2004). Managing technology development for safety-critical systems. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 51 (4), 451 - 461. doi:10.1109/TEM.2004.835086. PATÉ CORNELL, M. E., SACHON, M. (2001). Risks of particle hits during space walks in low earth orbit. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 37 (1), 134 - 146. doi:10.1109/7.913673. SACHON, M., PATÉ CORNELL, M. E. (2000). Delays and Safety in Airline Maintenance. RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY, 67 (3), 301 - 309. doi:10.1016/S0951-8320(99)00062-9.

Working Papers

SACHON, M. (2020). Electric Mobility: Looking back to look ahead? (WP-1237-E). SACHON, M., MARTÍNEZ DE ALBÉNIZ, V. (2009). Private label introduction: Does it benefit the supply chain? (DI-832-E). SACHON, M., PATÉ CORNELL, M. E. (2002). Managing technology development for safety-critical systems (DI-465-E).

Proceedings

SACHON, M., LAGO, A. (2005). Virtual supply chain readiness of the Spanish automotive sector. In L.N. Van Wassenhove et al. (Ed.), Operations as a Change Management. Proceedings of the 11th EUROMA Conference (pp. 911 - 920). SACHON, M., PATÉ CORNELL, M. E. (1999). Airline Maintenance vs Flight Delays: Probabilistic Methods and Risk Management for Accidents That Have Not Happened Yet. Proceedings of the 1999 High-Consequence Engineering Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 15-17 November 1999.

Books

SACHON, M., RIBERA, J., ZHANG, D., ZHANG, Y., CASTILLO, C., CHINA EUROPE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL (CEIBS) (2016). The Chinese Automotive Industry in 2016. Barcelona: IESE. RIBERA, J., SACHON, M., CALLARMAN, T. E., LI, H., SHEN, X., CASTILLO, C. (2014). The Chinese Automotive Industry in 2014. Shanghai: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). ANDREU I CIVIT, R., BERASATEGUI RODRÍGUEZ, L., CARDONA SORIANO, P., CASTAÑOSA, C., FERNÁNDEZ, A., GARCÍA PONT, C., ... VIVES L. (2006). Mejorar la gestión de las empresas. Agunos de los mejores casos del IESE. Edición 2005. Aravaca: McGraw-Hill Interamericana de España.

Book Chapters

LAGO, A., SACHON, M. (2008). La cadena de suministro: Conceptos, criterios de diseño y gestión. En Francisco J. Garrido (Ed.), Lo que se aprende en los mejores MBA (pp. 597 - 641). Barcelona: Gestión 2000. RIBERA, J., SACHON, M. (2006). Gestión de operaciones. En Jaume Ribera, José A. Gutiérrez Fuentes, Magda Rosenmöller (Eds.), Gestión en el sector de la salud. Vol. 2: Elementos de gestión en las instituciones (pp. 3 - 42). Madrid: Pearson-Prentice Hall. RIBERA, J., SACHON, M., ROSENMÖLLER, M. (2006). Gestión del riesgo. En Jaume Ribera, José A. Gutiérrez Fuentes, Magda Rosenmöller (Eds.), Gestión en el sector de la salud. Vol. 2: Elementos de gestión en las instituciones (pp. 433 - 459). Madrid: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Non-refereed articles

SACHON, M. (2018). The Building Blocks of Industry 4.0. People And Machines Working In Sync. Alumni Magazine (148), pp. 24 - 27. SACHON, M. (2018). Los pilares de la industria 4.0. Cuando personas y máquinas trabajan juntos. Revista de Antiguos Alumnos (148), pp. 24 - 27. SACHON, M. (2017). Los cinco puntales de la cadena de valor en la industria 4.0. Cuando personas y máquinas trabajan juntos. IESE Insight (33), pp. 15 - 22.

Studies

SACHON, M., WELTER, B. (2018). Key Data on the Automotive Sector. IESE, Barcelona, Spain. IESE, (2012). 21st Century Car Distribution in Europe. IESE 2012 MBA Project. SACHON, M., OROZCO, J. A. (2008). Barómetro de la logística en España.

Cases

SACHON, M., KARRER, C. (2025). Slide Bearing Corporation (SBC). Use of robotics in SMEs. IESE, OIT-41-E. SACHON, M. (2025). Netfllix: The Reed Hastings era. IESE, OIT-45-E. SACHON, M. (2025). BGBO: Consumer 3D Printing. IESE, OIT-2-E.

Technical Notes

LAGO, A., MOSCOSO, P., SACHON, M. (2012). Fundamentos y claves de la gestión de stocks. IESE, PN-484. LAGO, A., MOSCOSO, P., SACHON, M. (2012). The Fundamentals and Key Concepts of Inventory Management. IESE, PN-484-E. SACHON, M. (2010). El modelo de los minoristas de hard discount. IESE, PN-465.

Outputs in other media

SACHON, M. (2018). ¿Estamos listos para la industria 4.0? El Periódico de Catalunya, España. SACHON, M. (2016). An Apple Car on the Horizon. Apple developing a car illustrates the possibilities that emerge when different trends merge to shake up an established industry.. IESE Insight. SACHON, M. (2016). Seis lecciones del coche de Apple. La apuesta automovilística de Apple ilustra las posibilidades que surgen cuando la confluencia de diversos factores sacude un sector establecido. IESE Insight.