The digital transformation of the industry is entering a new phase. After years of focusing on the digitization of internal processes, the challenge now is to connect companies, systems, and entire supply chains through the secure exchange of data.
In this context, initiatives such as Manufacturing-X and Catena-X are emerging—two projects that are laying the groundwork for a new generation of collaborative industrial ecosystems based on interoperability, data sovereignty, and open standards.
During the AEC’s 30th Automotive Quality Congress, held in Bilbao, this was one of the key topics of the event.
Jordi Blanco, a representative of Kapture.io QMS, participated in a panel discussion on industrial digital transformation alongside experts from SISTEPLANT and FIELDEAS, where they analyzed some of the sector’s main challenges related to data management, traceability, collaboration between organizations, and the digitization of the supply chain.
What is Manufacturing-X?
Manufacturing-X is a European initiative aimed at creating an industrial ecosystem based on the secure and sovereign exchange of data among manufacturing companies. Its goal is to facilitate collaboration among manufacturers, suppliers, and technology partners through open standards that enable the efficient, interoperable, and secure sharing of information. To this end, it relies on technologies such as industrial IoT, AI, Digital Twins, and Data Spaces, among others.
This initiative originated primarily in Germany, although Manufacturing-X has a European focus and aims to strengthen the industry’s competitiveness through large-scale digital collaboration models.
What is Catena-X?
Catena-X is the first major use case of Manufacturing-X applied to the automotive industry. It is a collaborative network in which manufacturers, suppliers, and technology companies share information under a common governance model and data standards.
Among the companies already actively participating in this ecosystem are:
- BMW
- Mercedes-Benz
- Volkswagen
- Bosch
- Siemens
- SAP
The goal is for all stakeholders in the value chain to be able to exchange information in a transparent and controlled manner, while always maintaining control over their own data.
In fact, during the AEC Automotive Quality Congress, held on May 20 and 21, some of the challenges that Catena-X seeks to address—such as interoperability, traceability, and data sovereignty—were discussed. Jordi Blanco, Co-Director and Product Manager at Kapture.io, participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of industrial digitization and new data-driven collaboration models.
Catena-X Panel Discussion
Automotive Conference
Panelists
Why are they important to the automotive industry?
The automotive industry manages some of the world’s most complex supply chains. A single vehicle can contain thousands of components sourced from hundreds of suppliers located around the globe.
In this context, having reliable and accessible information has become a strategic factor in improving:
- Traceability of components and materials.
- Product quality.
- Sustainability.
- Risk management.
- Supply Chain Resilience.
Manufacturing-X and Catena-X address this very need, providing a common framework that enables manufacturers and suppliers to collaborate more efficiently.
Benefits of Manufacturing-X and Catena-X
1. Greater traceability
These initiatives make it possible to track materials, components, and processes throughout the product’s entire life cycle. This is particularly important for the quality department, as it supports compliance, ESG, recall management, and audits.
2. Greater supply chain resilience
Shared visibility into information facilitates the early detection of incidents, the anticipation of risks, and a faster response to logistical disruptions or production problems. This helps reduce critical dependencies and increases the ability to adapt to uncertain scenarios.
3. Promoting Sustainability
One of the main drivers behind these initiatives is the need to meet new regulatory requirements related to sustainability and ESG. Catena-X enables the calculation of the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) using real-world data shared throughout the value chain, thereby improving the accuracy of environmental indicators. This facilitates transparency in traceability, supporting the circular economy, the Digital Product Passport, environmental transparency, and regulatory compliance.
4. Improving Industrial Quality
The connection between manufacturers and suppliers opens up new possibilities for advanced quality management. Thanks to shared data models, it is now possible to detect anomalies early on, identify the source of defects, improve incident management, and automate audits and compliance processes.
Key Implementation Challenges
Despite their potential, the adoption of Manufacturing-X and Catena-X poses significant challenges.
The Role of Gaia-X
Manufacturing-X and Catena-X are closely linked to Gaia-X, the European initiative that aims to build sovereign and secure digital infrastructures.
Its goal is not to create a centralized cloud, but rather a federated architecture where each organization retains control of its data while being able to collaborate with other participants in the ecosystem. This framework also incorporates fundamental concepts such as those mentioned earlier: Digital Twins, Data Spaces, Asset Administration Shell (AAS), and Eclipse Dataspace Connector (ECD). Together, they form the technological foundation of the new Industry 4.0, which is based on interoperability and collaboration.
Manufacturing-X Beyond the Automotive Industry
Although Catena-X was created specifically for the automotive sector, Manufacturing-X aims to extend this model to other industrial sectors.
Among the initiatives that are already emerging, the following stand out: Aerospace-X, Factory-X, Health-X, Semiconductor-X, and Energy-X.
The goal of all this is to build a connected industrial economy where companies can collaborate using interoperable, secure, and transparently governed data.
Conclusion
Manufacturing-X and Catena-X represent a paradigm shift for European industry. Digitalization is no longer just about automating internal processes, but about creating connected ecosystems capable of sharing information securely and efficiently among organizations.
In sectors such as the automotive industry, this trend will have a direct impact on quality, traceability, sustainability, regulatory compliance, and supply chain resilience.
The industry has already begun this transition. Organizations that are able to properly manage their data and participate in these new collaborative ecosystems will be better prepared to compete in the future of Industry 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Content written by:
Jordi Blanco Corrales, Co-founder and Product Manager at Kapture.io QMS
With more than 20 years of experience in industrial quality, Jordi Blanco drives the digitization of processes and continuous improvement on the factory floor. His approach combines operational expertise and technology to help organizations transform data into decisions and quality into competitiveness.
