Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Automotive News
  • Automobilwoche
  • Automotive News Canada
  • Automotive News China
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Login
  • HOME
    • Latest news
    • Automakers
    • Suppliers
    • New Product
    • Environment/Emissions
    • Sales By Market
    • On The Move
    • Auto Shows
    • Munich Auto Show
    • Geneva Auto Show
    • Paris Auto Show
    • Beijing Auto Show
    • Shanghai Auto Show
  • Features
    • Long Read
    • Interview of the Month
    • Focus on Electrification
    • Focus on Technology
    • Segment Analysis
    • Cars & Concepts
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Europe By The Numbers
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Commentary
    • Guest columnists
  • Photos
    • Photo Galleries
    • Geneva Photo Gallery
    • Beijing Photo Gallery
    • Frankfurt Photo Gallery
    • Paris Photo Gallery
    • Shanghai Photo Gallery
  • Europe By The Numbers
  • Car Cutaways
  • Resource Center
  • EVENTS
    • ANE Congress
    • ANE Rising Stars
    • ANE Eurostars
  • More
    • Publishing Partners
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • About Us
    • Capgemini: All or nothing: Why circular business models require a holistic approach
    • Capgemini: Invent Head on automotive takeaways from CES 2023
    • Capgemini: Securing the industry's future through a radical rethink
    • Capgemini: Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
    • Capgemini: The circular economy is spurring new thinking on EV batteries
    • Capgemini: Toyota and Capgemini leaders on how OEMs can handle industry changes and succeed
    • HEXAGON: Plugging into data is the only way to make winning EVs
    • PUBLICIS SAPIENT: The power of post-purchase: How automakers can maximize customer lifetime value
    • TOYOTA EUROPE: Toyota Motor Europe's next-gen C-HR: sensory innovations revealed by Vehicle UX leader
    • TUV Rheinland: Ideas, services and certifications for smart mobility
    • TUV Rheinland: Testing of automated and autonomous vehicles on test tracks
    • Toyota Europe
    • UFI Filters
    • SENSEAUTO: Driving the future of mobility with SenseAuto: The AGI power behind the wheel
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Focus on Technology
May 25, 2021 12:19 AM

VW, Daimler, BMW join new alliance for cloud-based digital ecosystem

Catena-X initiative aims to improve efficiencies through cross-company data exchange

Nathan Eddy
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    VW Amazon Web Services

    VW is among companies using data analytics to improve supply chain efficiency. The automaker is working with Amazon Web Services and Siemens.

    BERLIN -- The automotive industry is under pressure to improve supply chain efficiency through data analytics. The Catena-X Automotive Network data exchange initiative aims to bring the automotive supply chain together under a single open data cloud ecosystem.

    Volkswagen Group, Daimler, BMW, Robert Bosch, Schaeffler, BASF and Deutsche Telekom are part of the European initiative. The new system is designed to ensure sovereign, trusted, and decentralized data exchange, allowing network partners to share their data with others without relinquishing data sovereignty.

    The initiative is just one part of an international effort currently underway in the industry to build cloud-based digital architectures relying primarily on the three major global providers -- Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

    In addition to efficiency advantages in the supply chain, the network offers participants better quality and logistics processes, increased transparency and simplified master data management.

    "Conceptually, this is very important," Gartner analyst Pedro Pacheco told Automotive News Europe. "Just imagine that suppliers from all tiers can directly and freely exchange data with the OEM, and vice-versa."

    This system will enable the supply chain to react much more quickly to changing needs from automakers, and it becomes easier to identify areas of improvement, especially for an automaker, as it will be easier to see bottlenecks beyond Tier 1 suppliers.

    Additionally, this would allow automakers to get a more precise picture of the carbon footprint of their supply chain and adjust it in order to reduce that footprint.

    "The central challenge is that each company is different from each other in terms of digital architecture and also on the way it produces, processes and shares data," Pacheco said. "Hence, aligning those procedures and standards is crucial."

    At the same time, those standards help make sure the data exchange between companies occurs with a higher level of security and data protection.

    Gartner analyst Pacheco: Cloud-based data sharing allows suppliers to react much more quickly to automakers' changing needs.

    For Pacheco, it all depends on the alliance's ability to progressively demonstrate results.

    "The initial concept and ambition are very encouraging, but the alliance needs to grow beyond Germany in order to generate a global impact in the automotive sector -- not just at the level of suppliers but also OEMs," he said.

    "If the results appear and if Catena-X manages to reach a truly global coverage, then this may help OEMs and suppliers improve supply chain efficiency and even become better prepared to deal with future supply chain disruptions."

    With the increase in networking, the alliance of automakers and suppliers hopes for improved conditions to further advance the transformation of the industry. Participation in the exchange is intended to secure the competitiveness of the European automotive industry in general.

    "With Catena-X, it will be possible to interconnect the data chains based on uniform standards throughout the industry," said Michael Prinz, BASF's Europe director of segment marketing transportation, performance materials. "The members of the alliance are about to build prototypes for these scenarios in the current project phase."

    Prinz said the exchange of data or information between the companies is increasingly becoming a necessary core competence of the industry.

    "We are jointly tackling a range of initial use cases relating to sustainability, quality management, logistics, maintenance, and supply chain management," he said. "In addition, the companies in the automotive industry are formulating the common requirements for the software solutions so that this information exchange can be carried out easily, efficiently, fairly, and securely in the future."

    Prinz said members of the exchange want to derive process descriptions, formats, findings, and freely usable open-source elements (e.g., connectors for access and use of the solution) and make them available to all players in the automotive value chain.

    For Frank Göller, head of digital production at VW Group, data is the central resource of digitalization and an important driver on the company's path to becoming a sustainable digital company.

    VW digital chief Göller: "We see great potential in cross-company data exchange."

    "By using data strategically, we can make even more effective and faster decisions -- this applies to internal processes, but also in collaboration with our more than 40,000 partners and suppliers around the world," he said.

    "We see great potential in cross-company data exchange. A data-driven digital twin as an image of real-world operations, for example, can help optimize production and logistics processes and improve transparency on sustainability issues," he said.

    Göller said uniform data standards are the cornerstones for a well-functioning exchange of data and information.

    "Seamless networking only succeeds with a common language, meaning a uniform data model," he said. "In addition to the technical framework of a data network, common rules are also important. "For us at Volkswagen, data security and data sovereignty are central building blocks of a successful data network. Only if each company retains control over its data will there be greater willingness and trust in data exchange."

    Göller said that digital transformation and the networking with partners and suppliers on the basis of common data standards and data models provide the necessary levers and approaches for optimization.

    "With a joint approach--an industry standard--we want to reduce technological and organizational entry barriers for all stakeholders along the automotive supply chains, and thus accelerate the digital transformation of the entire automotive industry," he said.

    Focus on Technology: Sign up for our monthly newsletter that looks at advancements in all aspects of the vehicle including performance, autonomous driving, batteries and more.
    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Aston Martin Chairman Stroll's Yew Tree increases stake in automaker
    Recommended for You
    Aston Martin new logo 22
    Aston Martin Chairman Stroll's Yew Tree increases stake in automaker
    VW Wolfsburg Golf production
    VW production back to normal after major IT outage
    VW ID4 electric SUV production
    VW's Zwickau plant will build Tesla fighter; Wolfsburg to produce electric Golf
    Main Image Cars
    Sponsored Content: Driving the future of mobility with SenseAuto: The AGI Power Behind the Wheels
    Sign up for free newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up and get the best of Automotive News Europe delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    SUBSCRIBE TODAY

    Get 24/7 access to in-depth, authoritative coverage of the auto industry from a global team of reporters and editors covering the news that’s vital to your business.

    SUBSCRIBE NOW
    Connect with Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram

    Founded in 1996, Automotive News Europe is the preferred information source for decision-makers and opinion leaders operating in Europe.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI  48207-2997
    Tel: +1 877-812-1584

    Email Us

    ISSN 2643-6590 (print)
    ISSN 2643-6604 (online)

     

    Resources
    • About us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Awards
    • Rising Stars
    • Eurostars
    • Leading Women
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Automotive News Europe
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • HOME
      • Latest news
      • Automakers
      • Suppliers
      • New Product
      • Environment/Emissions
      • Sales By Market
      • On The Move
      • Auto Shows
        • Munich Auto Show
        • Geneva Auto Show
        • Paris Auto Show
        • Beijing Auto Show
        • Shanghai Auto Show
    • Features
      • Long Read
      • Interview of the Month
      • Focus on Electrification
      • Focus on Technology
      • Segment Analysis
      • Cars & Concepts
      • Supplier Spotlight
      • Europe By The Numbers
    • Opinion
      • Blogs
      • Commentary
      • Guest columnists
    • Photos
      • Photo Galleries
      • Geneva Photo Gallery
      • Beijing Photo Gallery
      • Frankfurt Photo Gallery
      • Paris Photo Gallery
      • Shanghai Photo Gallery
    • Europe By The Numbers
    • Car Cutaways
    • Resource Center
    • EVENTS
      • ANE Congress
      • ANE Rising Stars
      • ANE Eurostars
    • More
      • Publishing Partners
        • Capgemini: All or nothing: Why circular business models require a holistic approach
        • Capgemini: Invent Head on automotive takeaways from CES 2023
        • Capgemini: Securing the industry's future through a radical rethink
        • Capgemini: Succeeding with the automated driving journey through AI
        • Capgemini: The circular economy is spurring new thinking on EV batteries
        • Capgemini: Toyota and Capgemini leaders on how OEMs can handle industry changes and succeed
        • HEXAGON: Plugging into data is the only way to make winning EVs
        • PUBLICIS SAPIENT: The power of post-purchase: How automakers can maximize customer lifetime value
        • TOYOTA EUROPE: Toyota Motor Europe's next-gen C-HR: sensory innovations revealed by Vehicle UX leader
        • TUV Rheinland: Ideas, services and certifications for smart mobility
        • TUV Rheinland: Testing of automated and autonomous vehicles on test tracks
        • Toyota Europe
        • UFI Filters
        • SENSEAUTO: Driving the future of mobility with SenseAuto: The AGI power behind the wheel
      • Social Media
        • Facebook
        • Instagram
        • LinkedIn
        • Twitter
      • Contact Us
      • Media Kit
      • About Us