Key takeaways
- A number of automotive firms have piloted the Catena-X data-sharing ecosystem
- The system is designed to speed up info circulation by worth chains
- Catena-X may function the blueprint for related options in different industries
A software that enables for “radical collaboration” round sustainability knowledge 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 info. The system, developed by BMW and different European firms, was piloted final yr. Now, the Automotive Business Motion Group, a non-profit that promotes collaboration between {industry} companions within the U.S., is gearing as much as provide Catena-X to its nearly 5,000 member firms.
The system is designed to easy the numerous factors of friction that automotive firms encounter when sharing sustainability knowledge — for instance, the usage of completely different software program methods. Equally, smaller firms that sometimes sit deeper in provide chain discover it more durable to effectively measure and share knowledge with bigger producers.
Widespread language
Catena-X creates a standard language for value-chain companions to make use of. Oliver Ganser, the BMW vice chairman who chairs the Catena-X board, likened the system to electronic mail protocols that permit customers of any related software program — Gmail or Outlook, for instance — to alternate messages seamlessly. “Now SAP can speak to IBM,” he mentioned, 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 info they need to share, such because the carbon footprint related to particular merchandise, in addition to guidelines that permit firms to regulate which companions have entry to commercially delicate knowledge.
Catena-X was piloted final yr after round three years of growth. In a single take a look at, a group at BMW’s plant in Landshut, Germany used it to obtain knowledge from Covestra, a associate that provides the kidney-shaped grilles that adorn the entrance of the corporate’s vehicles. The knowledge included all emissions concerned in manufacturing of the grille, from the extraction of uncooked supplies by the manufacturing course of. After being transferred to BMW, the information 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 certainly one of its merchandise. A 3rd take a look at concerned knowledge 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, mentioned Ganser. U.S. firms will quickly be invited to affix them. Kevin Piotrowski, chief transformation officer on the Automotive Business Motion Group, mentioned 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 need to collaborate and share knowledge, however they don’t need to do it 5 alternative ways or 10 alternative ways,” he mentioned. “We’ve obtained to give you a regular means.”
Though designed for automotive firms, the emergence of Catena-X raises the chance that a number of industries would possibly sooner or later plug into a standard structure for sharing sustainability knowledge. For instance, Catena-X incorporates core ideas developed by the Partnership for Carbon Transparency, an industry-agnostic initiative from the World Enterprise Council for Sustainable Improvement that has created a regular for sharing Scope 3 knowledge.
“Catena-X is deliberately designed for the automotive sector, addressing its particular complexity, multi-tier provide chains and regulatory calls for,” mentioned Ganser. “Nevertheless, from the start it was developed as a blueprint for different industries going through related challenges.”
