Key takeaways
- A number of automotive firms have piloted the Catena-X data-sharing ecosystem
- The system is designed to speed up data circulation by way of worth chains
- Catena-X may function the blueprint for comparable options in different industries
A software that enables for “radical collaboration” round sustainability information will develop from Europe to the U.S. within the subsequent few months.
Catena-X is a data-sharing ecosystem that automotive {industry} firms use to alternate product carbon footprints and different sustainability data. The system, developed by BMW and different European firms, was piloted final yr. Now, the Automotive Trade Motion Group, a non-profit that promotes collaboration between {industry} companions within the U.S., is gearing as much as supply Catena-X to its nearly 5,000 member firms.
The system is designed to clean the numerous factors of friction that automotive firms encounter when sharing sustainability information — for instance, using completely different software program techniques. Equally, smaller firms that sometimes sit deeper in provide chain discover it more durable to effectively measure and share information with bigger producers.
Widespread language
Catena-X creates a typical language for value-chain companions to make use of. Oliver Ganser, the BMW vp who chairs the Catena-X board, likened the system to e mail protocols that permit customers of any related software program — Gmail or Outlook, for instance — to alternate messages seamlessly. “Now SAP can discuss to IBM,” he stated, referring to 2 of the tech firms that present sustainability software program to the automotive {industry}.
Along with BMW, the Catena-X board consists of representatives from Renault, Siemens, Mercedes and others.
The system additionally consists of “kits” that suppliers can use to calculate data they wish to share, such because the carbon footprint related to particular merchandise, in addition to guidelines that permit firms to manage which companions have entry to commercially delicate information.
Catena-X was piloted final yr after round three years of growth. In a single take a look at, a workforce at BMW’s plant in Landshut, Germany used it to obtain information from Covestra, a companion that provides the kidney-shaped grilles that adorn the entrance of the corporate’s automobiles. The data included all emissions concerned in manufacturing of the grille, from the extraction of uncooked supplies by way of the manufacturing course of. After being transferred to BMW, the info was built-in with the Siemens software program the corporate makes use of to trace its personal emissions numbers.
In one other pilot, Witte Automotive, a provider of door handles and locks to BMW and others, used Catena-X to extra effectively calculate the carbon footprint of one among its merchandise. A 3rd take a look at concerned information alternate between three firms — Ford, semiconductor producer Micron and Flex, which designs and produces electronics. Not like BMW, the trio was not concerned within the growth of Catena-X.
Increasing stateside
Greater than 140 firms started to make use of the system after these pilots have been accomplished and registration opened final October, stated Ganser. U.S. firms will quickly be invited to hitch them. Kevin Piotrowski, chief transformation officer on the Automotive Trade Motion Group, stated that within the subsequent month or two he’ll announce a proper collaboration with Catena-X and invite his members to make use of it. “They wish to collaborate and share information, however they don’t wish to do it 5 other ways or 10 other ways,” he stated. “We’ve acquired to give you an ordinary means.”
Though designed for automotive firms, the emergence of Catena-X raises the chance that a number of industries may in the future plug into a typical structure for sharing sustainability information. For instance, Catena-X incorporates core rules developed by the Partnership for Carbon Transparency, an industry-agnostic initiative from the World Enterprise Council for Sustainable Growth that has created an ordinary for sharing Scope 3 information.
“Catena-X is deliberately designed for the automotive sector, addressing its particular complexity, multi-tier provide chains and regulatory calls for,” stated Ganser. “Nevertheless, from the start it was developed as a blueprint for different industries dealing with comparable challenges.”