Catena-X Consulting and Implementation.
RITTWEGER + TEAM supports companies in taking a structured approach to Catena-X – from assessing suitability and selecting a commercially viable use case to preparing product, CO₂, certificate and supply-chain data, onboarding and the first productive data exchange. Clear and requiring minimal time on your part.
We combine data-space strategy with specialist expertise in Digital Product Passports, Product Carbon Footprints, the circular economy and ESG. We select the technical solution on a platform-neutral basis and coordinate its implementation together with a suitable external provider.
Exchange standardised data securely and under sovereign control – reliable in content, technically interoperable and permanently usable within your organisation.
Why companies need a Catena-X strategy now
Today, a certificate is often not provided just once, but repeatedly: in different OEM portals, by email, as a PDF, in spreadsheets or through customer-specific interfaces. The same increasingly applies to Product Carbon Footprints, product passport data, quality information and supply-chain data.
Information prepared for one customer often cannot readily be reused for the next. The result is duplicate data maintenance, breaks between systems, inconsistent data versions, manual checks and growing coordination effort across sustainability, quality, procurement, sales and IT.
Catena-X addresses this fragmentation. Common standards, data models, interfaces and processes are designed to ensure that information from different companies and software solutions can be interpreted consistently and exchanged interoperably. Once the initial technical and organisational connection has been established, further use cases can be added step by step.
The key question is no longer only: What data do we have? It is: Is this data clearly assigned, up to date, auditable, standards-compliant and exchangeable for the intended use case?
Illustration of data flows with and without Catena-X. Without Catena-X, certificates, Product Carbon Footprints and many other types of data usually have to be prepared for each customer and submitted separately. Catena-X simplifies this through standardisation and a common interface.
Current opportunity in 2026: Funded entry through the Data Space Accelerator
Up to EUR 30,000 in net remuneration for a productive Catena-X entry
The Data Space Accelerator is a publicly funded study designed to make it easier, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, to enter the Catena-X data space. The remuneration is paid as a lump sum once defined milestones have been achieved and verified and may also be used to cover internal work effort.
Get started with Catena-X with funding now!
What is Catena-X?
Catena-X establishes common rules for data exchange across the value chain.
Catena-X is an open and collaborative data ecosystem. It connects manufacturers, suppliers, solution providers and service providers across multi-tier value chains. Common standards define how data models, interfaces, identities, access rights and processes must interact so that information can be exchanged interoperably and at scale.
Use cases include:
- Product Carbon Footprints and CO₂ data
- Digital Product Passports
- Company and management system certificates
- Traceability of materials, components and products
- Quality management
- Demand and capacity management
- Short-term supply chain management
- Circular economy and material information
Catena-X is therefore not a single software solution. It establishes the common functional and technical rules that allow different certified solutions to work together.
Catena-X, Cofinity-X, Gaia-X and IDSA: Who performs which role?
Catena-X – standards and governance
The Catena-X Automotive Network e. V. coordinates the development of the open data ecosystem. Members work on data models, technical standards, certification frameworks, governance rules and new use cases.
Cofinity-X – operational access
At present, operational access to the Catena-X data space in Europe is provided through Cofinity-X. This includes company onboarding, the assignment or provision of the Business Partner Number, identity and wallet services, access to data-space services, and a marketplace for applications and services.
Gaia-X – the trust framework
Gaia-X defines common rules and verifiable evidence for trustworthy digital ecosystems. Gaia-X itself operates neither the Catena-X data space nor a central repository.
IDSA – the reference architecture
The International Data Spaces Association develops reference architectures, rules and protocols for sovereign data spaces. It describes how companies can exchange data securely and interoperably under clearly defined terms of use. IDSA itself likewise does not operate a central Catena-X data repository.
What Catena-X changes for companies in practice
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1. Provide company certificates once in a structured format
ISO, quality, security, sustainability and management system certificates currently often have to be uploaded, updated and checked separately in several customer portals. The Catena-X Company Certificate Management use case makes it possible to provide certificate information in a standardised format and make it available to authorised business partners.
This creates the potential to reduce duplicate maintenance, inconsistent data versions and repeated manual uploads. The specific degree of automation depends on the application used and the connection of the partners involved.
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2. Exchange Product Carbon Footprints along the supply chain
For many companies, a Product Carbon Footprint only becomes truly valuable when it is not merely available as a PDF, but can be shared in a product-specific, methodologically transparent and machine-readable format.
Catena-X establishes common foundations for the interoperable exchange of supplier-specific PCF data. This still requires system boundaries, calculation methods, primary and secondary data, reference periods, versions and supporting evidence to be documented in a technically robust manner.
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3. Build interoperable Digital Product Passports
Digital Product Passports require structured product, material, origin, CO₂, repair and circularity data. Catena-X provides an open, provider-neutral foundation for interoperable product data within the automotive value chain.
A Catena-X connection does not automatically create a complete Digital Product Passport. Relevant products and components must first be uniquely identified, data sources accessed, evidence verified and the information mapped to suitable data models
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4. Improve traceability and quality across company boundaries
For traceability and quality management, information from different tiers of the supply chain must be connected: from subcomponents and materials through components to the vehicle. Standardised diagnostic, defect, production and product data can facilitate joint analyses, make root causes visible earlier and support the tracking of affected components.
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5. Coordinate demand, capacity and delivery capability
Demand and capacity information is currently exchanged in different formats, at different times and with diverging planning statuses. Common data models provide a basis for coordinated forecasts, capacity notifications and short-term supply chain management.
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6. Data responsibility becomes a company-wide task
Catena-X is not just an IT project. For each use case, the following must be clarified:
- Which product, component or company is uniquely identified?
- Which data source is authoritative?
- Which mandatory fields and supporting evidence are required?
- Who is responsible for creation, verification and approval?
- Which business partners may receive which data?
- Which terms of use apply?
- How are updates, versions and corrections managed?
Catena-X therefore typically involves not only IT, but also sustainability management, quality, product development, procurement, sales, compliance and executive management.
The connection is technical. The real work lies in the data.
A data-space connector can verify identities, make data offerings discoverable, agree terms of use and initiate a transfer. It cannot, however, generate missing product data, resolve conflicting certificate versions, calculate a PCF correctly from a methodological perspective or clarify unclear responsibilities within the company.
A dataset can only be exchanged productively when, among other things:
- a suitable data source is available,
- the product or company has been uniquely identified,
- the business partner and its technical endpoint can be found,
- the data offering is visible to the partner,
- valid digital identities and, where applicable, supporting evidence are available,
- access and usage policies have been accepted,
- and the transfer is technically available.
That is why we do not start by selecting software, but with the use case, the data situation and the business case.
Our Catena-X services:
Strategy and Readiness
- Catena-X suitability assessment
- Analysis of customer, OEM and supply-chain requirements
- Business case and cost-benefit assessment
- Selection and prioritisation of suitable use cases
- Development of a Catena-X roadmap
- Assessment of participation and funding eligibility
- Alignment among executive management, IT and business functions
Data and functional requirements
- Inventory of existing product, material, CO₂, certificate and supply-chain data
- Data quality and gap analysis
- Definition of mandatory fields, supporting evidence and responsibilities
- Preparation of Digital Product Passports
- Product Carbon Footprints and Scope 3 data
- Structuring of company and management system certificates
- Derivation of mapping requirements for Catena-X data models
- Establishment of auditable data and evidence logic
Onboarding and technical coordination
- Platform-neutral selection of suitable applications and service providers
- Requirements matrix and comparison of proposals
- Support for Catena-X onboarding
- Coordination of Business Partner Number, identity and wallet processes
- Alignment of connector, app and data sources
- Interface design for ERP, PLM, MES, LCA tools and databases
- Coordination of setup, configuration, testing and acceptance
- Coordination with customers, suppliers and data exchange partners
Implementation and operations
- Support for the first productive data exchange
- Definition of test and acceptance criteria
- Documentation of data flows and supporting evidence
- Roles and responsibilities model
- Data approval, update and correction processes
- Governance for access and usage policies
- Training for the business functions involved
- Management and stakeholder communication
- Scaling plan for additional Catena-X use cases
Data Space Accelerator support
- Eligibility and pathway assessment
- Support with the expression of interest and programme registration
- Baseline and follow-up questionnaire
- Programme and milestone management
- Coordination of the technical solution
- Documentation of productive data exchange
- Preparation of the required completion evidence
- Support with settlement of milestone compensation
Your contacts for Catena-X onboarding
Frequently Asked Questions about Catena-X (FAQ)
Is Catena-X software or a platform?
Is my company data stored centrally in Catena-X?
What is the difference between Catena-X membership and participation in the data space?
What is a Business Partner Number?
What is an EDC connector?
Do we need to replace our ERP, PLM or MES system?
Which use case should we start with?
Does Catena-X support the Digital Product Passport?
Sources (selection, as of August 2026)
- Catena-X Automotive Network e. V.: Ecosystem overview, Standardisation, Business Areas and Onboarding
- Cofinity-X: data space access, company onboarding, applications
- International Data Spaces Association: Data Space Accelerator
- Cofinity-X Programme Overview of the Data Space Accelerator
