BMW Group’s data specialist outlined a new perspective on the circular economy at a recent automotive recycling congress held in Switzerland. Oliver Ganser introduced the Catena X Data Ecosystem, which he calls “a fitness program for the automotive industry.”

The linking of key data is not entirely common among companies. At the same time, transparency is essential in the circular economy. The solution proposed by BMW is intended to remove concerns about data sharing. It was named the Catena X Data Ecosystem.

“It will allow us to exchange data peer to peer. Companies can choose their own software, their own goals – they can have different scale and CO2 footprint – we just connect them,” said the data specialist.

Catena will be a kind of virtual marketplace, where it will be possible to search for products and used vehicle parts, with the aid of a “value index”. It is the first integrated, collaborative, open data ecosystem for the automotive industry and other manufacturing industries. Whoever publishes their data in it retains control over its use.

The declared goal of the project is economical and sustainable production, including resource recycling. Material flows should be digitally tracked throughout the supply chain. Thanks to this, it will be possible (among other things), for example, to determine the integral CO2 footprint. At the same time, the project will significantly increase the possibilities for recycling.

“While you can return some simple products, such as bottles and cans, at local hotspots, the same logic does not apply to cars. You can’t put a sticker on the gearbox that says ‘if you find this part, send it back’,” says Oliver Ganser.

His opinion is that Catena can work because it is based on an international network that already exists.

“Now we have to create its digital counterpart,” states O. Ganser, and he makes no secret of his ambition to create the largest library of digital twins in the world.

Source: https://recyclinginternational.com/icm-conference/bmw-builds-fitness- programme-for-automotive-sector/50218/

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