SAP Industry Network for Automotive

Enable next-generation processes with Catena-X–ready solutions tailored to automotive industry requirements.
Analytics functionality in SAP Industry Network for Automotive

Drive scalability and speed across the global automotive supply chain

Overcome the challenges of disconnected, fragmented business processes by leveraging data from an industry network to predict business risks and make better, faster decisions.

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Optimize supply chain planning and support digitalized operations, smart warehousing, and sustainability through network collaboration with packages that are part of the Catena-X initiative.

  • Cloud-based offerings that span the automotive value chain
  • Global network of partners that jointly work towards optimized outcomes
  • Tight back-end and network integration
  • Multiple use cases, including disruption sensing, carbon footprint reduction, and more

Key benefits

Transition to zero emissions and zero waste

Trace components, materials, and emissions along the supply chain to reduce the environmental footprint of your products and support the circular economy.

Increase resiliency with optimized resource allocation

Predict business risks, make faster decisions, and plan for available capacity and materials by using data from the collective intelligence of the network.

Boost competitiveness through closer collaboration

Collaborate across industries to facilitate cost-efficient, scalable, and sustainable supply chains and create opportunities for new business models.

Tailored packages for the automotive industry

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SAP Industry Network for Automotive offers a range of packages that address the specific needs of companies in the automotive sector – from sustainability management through demand planning and supply chain visibility.

Parts traceability

  • Track and trace serial numbers, batches, and components across industry organizations

  • Create a data foundation for OEMs and suppliers to react faster to anomalies

  • Comply with new regulations and reduce regulatory risks in supply chains

Carbon footprint management

  • Create a transparent carbon footprint for parts and components across production and logistics steps

  • Identify products across processes with high potential for carbon reduction and optimization

  • Meet regulatory requirements across regions, including the European Green Deal and Battery Directive

Demand and capacity management

  • Gain visibility and early notifications in case of capacity shortages, delivery problems, and potential bottlenecks

  • Increase transparency into actual and future demand and capacity situations

  • Improve capacity utilization and avoid over-capacities as well as capacity shortfalls

Quality management

  • Reduce complaints and resolve warranty claims

  • Save time identifying problems and initiating containment actions

  • Communicate and address part quality problems with suppliers faster

Circular economy management

  • Improve transparency into the processing of used materials and enable recovery of valuable materials

  • Plan better demand and supply of reusable components and recycled materials for production

  • Use digital twins to help improve decision-making on second-life and recycling strategies

Industry network enablement

  • Simplify and accelerate integration projects to support end-to-end business processes across lines of business and partners

  • Enable convenient and self-sovereign data exchange using an Eclipse Dataspace Connector

  • Help ensure connectivity that empowers 

Get the latest news and insights

€10,000 saved for each carbon footprint calculation

Learn how WITTE Automotive supports supply chain decarbonization efforts by making it simpler to calculate and share emissions data.

Sharing data throughout the automotive value chain

Discover Catena-X, a new alliance for building an open, scalable network for cross-company collaboration and data exchange across the automotive industry.

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Collaborate to compete with Catena-X

Find out how you can achieve end-to-end supply chain traceability when partners come together to share data.

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See what’s hot in the automotive industry

Get an overview of the latest trends and challenges impacting businesses as the automotive industry evolves.

Frequently asked questions

Catena-X is a joint project of automotive OEMs, industry, and IT suppliers. Together with BMW, Deutsche Telekom, Bosch, Siemens and ZF Friedrichshafen as well as the former German Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy, SAP initiated an open scalable network based on Gaia-X (in Q4, 2020).  With the Catena-X Automotive Network, we jointly want to provide a common standard for the secure and interoperable exchange of data and information across companies along the automotive value chain. The cloud-based network is open to participants across the automotive value chain. Regardless of size, automakers and their global partners, dealers, and suppliers can join the network. Catena-X  owns the network while SAP is a member of Catena-X and provides solutions that are certified by Catena-X.

The Catena-X ecosystem consists of three areas – the Catena-X Automotive Network , the development environment, and the operating environment:

  • The Catena-X Automotive Network is responsible for standardization, certifications, and governance of the Catena-X ecosystem. Membership is continuously growing and members can participate in working groups to actively shape the Catena-X ecosystem. SAP is one of the founding members of the association.

  • The Catena-X consortium, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, will perform the core development work during the funding period until mid-2024. SAP is one of a total of 28 partners of the Catena-X consortium.

  • In the operating environment, the various open source and commercial services and business applications are run by different providers. SAP is one of ten shareholders of the recently founded joint venture Cofinity-X, the first officially certified operating company.

Catena-X aims to provide greater resiliency and transparency to the automotive supply chain, improving its quality and efficiency for all companies involved. This open and collaborative data ecosystem perfectly reflects SAP’s vision to enable every organization to become a network of intelligent, sustainable enterprises. It also gives the companies leveraging the Catena-X Automotive Network access to a broad portfolio of automotive IT solutions from SAP, from enabling product traceability across the supply chain to tracking and calculating Scope 3 emissions.

Trust, interoperability, and data sovereignty, these are the objectives and values for secure and sustainable peer-to-peer data exchange between organizations and companies. Based on the International Data Spaces (IDS) concept, SAP offers the Eclipse Dataspace Connector (EDC) component as part of SAP Integration Suite in its new Data Space Integration capability. Users and customers of SAP solutions can access SAP-based and third-party hosted data through the Catena-X ecosystem.

There is a minimal set of requirements you need to participate in the Catena-X ecosystem:

  • Register your company through an operating company (such as Cofinity-X) and get a business partner number (BPN)

  • Install an EDC or use SAP Integration Suite

  • Define the use case and business application you want to enable Catena-X network connectivity.

Catena-X connects providers and users irrespective of their company size. The majority of Catena-X Automotive Network participants are SMEs and include many companies with little data readiness or digital footprint. SAP has intelligent automotive supply chain solutions to help businesses of every size run simpler and smarter. You can start small and scale as you grow, with predictable pricing so you can manage your budget. It’s no wonder that so many small and midsize companies rely on SAP and our expert partners to tackle their biggest challenges.