Ten companies from the industry have joined forces to form a joint venture that will offer products and data along the automotive value chain as part of the Trans-European Catena-X data ecosystem.
The carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, the suppliers Schaeffler and ZF Friedrichshafen and the technology providers T-Systems, SAP and Siemens are participating in the joint venture called Cofinity-X at the start. From the materials side, BASF and Henkel are also on board. Oliver Ganser, who already heads the preparatory association Catena-X Automotive Network, has been appointed CEO.
According to the group’s plan, customers of Cofinity-X will be able to access applications and services to benefit from solutions in the automotive value chain for sustainability, traceability, circular economy and the intelligent management of business partner data. In doing so, the joint venture has set itself a wide range of tasks. They stretch from solutions for decarbonisation and the traceability of components along the entire value chain to the establishment of a sustainable circular economy. The tasks also include the intelligent management of business partner data and the digital linking of suppliers and customers along the value chain.
Comprehensive to-do list
But that is not the end of the task list. Cofinity-X wants to gear its range of products and services not only to large corporations, but also make them accessible and manageable for small and medium-sized enterprises. Because, according to the ten founders, continuous data chains can only be created if all participants are willing to cooperate. A large proportion of the companies in the automotive industry are small and medium-sized enterprises. The goal is to create a simple and quick entry into the Catena-X data ecosystem for these players. Cofinity-X will build a product portfolio with four core product and service offerings. The first products and services will be available from the end of April 2023.
All of this is to be organised as an open marketplace. This is to ensure the efficient placement of network participants. The products and services offered there by Cofinity-X and other partners will allow customers to participate in the Catena-X data ecosystem. All applications offered will be compliant with the data exchange principles of Catena-X and Gaia-X. The data exchange between the participating companies will be based on sovereign, secure and standardised principles and avoid lock-in effects on the business applications. At the same time, each partner retains complete control over its data at all times.
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“The challenges facing industries worldwide can only be solved with a joint and holistic approach: Our value chains need to become more traceable, more sustainable and more resilient. Catena-X and Cofinity-X can be a game changer on this path,” comments BMW CEO Oliver Zipse.
Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries, comments on the foundation: “The joint venture helps us to achieve sustainability and efficiency goals in the automotive industry faster and more efficiently. This is only possible in a strong team at eye level between the automotive industry, suppliers and equipment manufacturers. Siemens provides Catena-X applications that can be used by all participants in the automotive value chain, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.”
The JV has announced a first public appearance at the Hannover Messe (17-21 April 2023).
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