The OEM will be a founding member of Catena-X an industry network created to establish data standards for the automotive value chain and promote industry-wide data exchange
In addition to Volkswagen, the Catena-X Automotive Network currently consists of 24 other partners from various levels of the automotive value chain, including BMW AG, Deutsche Telekom AG, Mercedes-Benz AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, SAP SE, Siemens AG and ZF Friedrichshafen AG. The industry network intends to form a registered association.
Gerd Walker, head of Production and Logistics at the Volkswagen Group, says: “Data is a key driver for Volkswagen on the path to becoming a sustainable digital company and can become even more important, if we share certain data across corporate boundaries. To tap into the full potential of a data network, we need uniform standards and common principles.”
Murat Aksel, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for Purchasing, says: “Digitalisation and networking play a key role for the production and supply chains of the future. On the one hand, constantly connected data chains from the supplier to the manufacturer enable the flows of material to be organised more efficiently, meaning supply bottlenecks can be identified early on. On the other hand, digitalisation helps us to strengthen processes for observing environmental protection and human rights standards and to make supply chains even more transparent on these sensitive points.”
The establishment of data standards created through Catena-X will provide the basis for a digital ecosystem in which automobile manufacturers and suppliers, dealer associations as well as technology suppliers can take part. Volkswagen says its years of experience gained from the networking of its global factory structure with the cloud will contribute to the development of the data infrastructure of Catena-X. Moreover, the Group will work on specific applications ranging from supply chain optimisation to business partner master data management.
Volkswagen says being part of Catena-X will further support the networking of its global value chains with more than 40,000 suppliers and partner companies. The Group has been developing the Industrial Cloud together with AWS and Siemens since 2019 and the OEM says it also sees potential for synergies with respect to the expansion of its Industrial Cloud.
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