BASF, BMW Group, Henkel, Mercedes-Benz, SAP, Schaeffler, Siemens, T-Systems, Volkswagen and ZF came together to establish Cofinity-X to enable Catena-X to be used in the automotive industry and accelerate its spread. Starting with the European market, Cofinity-X aims to become an open market and offer the necessary products and services to ensure efficient and secure data exchange among all the members of the ecosystem. Cofinity-X, which will encourage the operation and growth of end-to-end data chains, will make a great contribution to the tracking of materials throughout the supply chain. The operation based on the principles of Catena-X and Gaia-X; It will offer parties the opportunity to work with full data sovereignty in an open, reliable, collaborative and secure environment.
With the establishment of Cofinity-X, the stakeholders of the initiative BASF, BMW Group, Henkel, Mercedes-Benz, SAP, Schaeffler, Siemens, T-Systems, Volkswagen and ZF took another step towards the adoption of the Catena-X initiative in Europe. Cofinity-X aims to be one of the first companies to offer the products and services required for secure data exchange across the entire automotive value chain.
Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, commented: “Digitalization, together with sustainability, is the transformative force of today's automotive industry. In order for this transformation to take place, there must be a reliable and secure data exchange system that will cover the entire value chain. This is only possible with high standards to be achieved through the cooperation of strong partners. As a co-founder of Cofinity-X, Schaeffler is proud to contribute to the effort to achieve this important goal.”
Future customers of Cofinity-X will have access to applications and services in the automotive value chain to implement scenarios in areas such as CO2 and ESG monitoring, Traceability, Circular Economy and Partner Data Management.
Decarbonisation approaches: Carbon Footprint Tracking solutions enable accurate and consistent calculation and reporting of CO2 values throughout the value chain. Thus, Cofinity-X customers get a head start in Carbon Footprint transparency and contribute to the global effort to reach the net zero target by evaluating potential sustainability improvements.
Consistent and reliable traceability: This means tracking parts and components anywhere in the value chain, from raw materials to recycled parts. With traceability applications, the entire value chain can be viewed and supply chain durability can be increased.
Circular economy for a sustainable value chain: Recycling of materials is gaining more and more importance in the automotive industry. Information about the status of components is displayed transparently so that suppliers and customers can reuse parts and components correctly. By establishing the circular economy, companies increase the proportion of recyclable materials in their products and reduce waste.
Intelligent Partner Data Management (BPDM): Companies spend huge resources keeping customer and supplier data up to date. Cofinity-X BPDM services provide a clean and rich presentation of automotive partner data. In this way, Cofinity-X customers can benefit from segregated, reviewed, organized and rich partner data.
Collaboration between suppliers and customers spanning the entire automotive value chain
Alexander Schleicher, Managing Director of Cofinity-X, said: “There was a growing need to track materials across the entire value chain, which was a key factor in the founding of Cofinity-X. We will be an important part of a growing ecosystem where all companies in the automotive value chain can participate equally. Therefore, the products we offer will not only create end-to-end data chains, but also add value to all participants.”
A product that will increase the acceptance and adoption rate of small and medium-sized businesses
End-to-end data chains can only be created if all parties are willing to cooperate. Most companies in the automotive value chain are small and medium-sized businesses. Cofinity-X will provide these key players with an easy and fast onboarding process. Cofinity-X will also offer a portfolio built around four core products and services. The first products and services will be available from April 2023.
The Open Marketplace aims to efficiently “match” network participants by providing the best environment for business applications that customers can use. All applications to be presented will comply with the Catena-X and GAIA-X data exchange principles.
Data exchange between the parties will be based on independent, secure and uniform principles that do not force the use of certain solutions. All parties will have full control over their data.
Unified and Joint Solutions will power business applications offered in the marketplace and add value to the customer by establishing data exchange with an open-source interoperable approach.
Entry Services will help adopt the Catena-X ecosystem and accelerate the digital connections of automotive partners at every step of the ecosystem value chain.
Oliver Ganser, Chairman of the Board of Catena-X Automotive Network eV: “Cofinity-X; It will lead the industrialization of Catena-X standards and software intermediates, providing customers with an entry point for Catena-X data fields. I look forward to seeing the world's first truly open-source and interoperable portfolio of products and services come alive and add value to all members.” made statements.
Strong commitment messages from key automotive companies
Cofinity-X investors highlight the co-founders' commitment to building the Catena-X ecosystem. All shareholders have equal shares in this joint venture.