Milestonein Life Cycle Engineering: Vitesco Tech Joins Catena-X

 

* Catena-X to become the first end-to-end, collaborative and open data ecosystemfor the automotive industry 

* Common goal is to decarbonize the automotive value chain – other industries also benefit 

* Vitesco Technologies optimizesthe environmental footprint of new productswith the aid of life cycle engineering 

Vitesco Technologies, a leadinginternational supplier of advanced drive technologies and solutions for e-mobility is now a member of the Catena-X Automotive Network e.V. and will thus be part of the first comprehensive, collaborative and open data ecosystemalong the entire automotive value chain. The company sees great addedvalue in this network createdby the automotive industry, for example in areas such as materialcompliance and socialsustainability, but above all also for life cycle engineering. To optimize the environmental footprint of new products,Vitesco Technologies is currently rollingout this methodin all of its development and production processes. 

“As a member of Catena-X Automotive Network e.V., we now have access to much more numerical data and are able to provide informative data,” explains KhosrauHeidary, Head of Life Cycle Engineering at Vitesco Technologies: “This will enable us to examine our products even more closelyin future with regard to their CO2 footprint and derive suitablemeasures for CO2 reduction based on the knowledge gained or hotspots identified.” 

Calculating the product carbon footprint (PCF) requires data from all phases of the life cycle i.e., from the extraction of raw materialsfrom the environment, through the production and usephases, to the endof a product’s life. Data exchange in the automotive value chain is currently difficultbecause there is no harmonized method for calculating PCFs, which means that the PCFsfrom different companiesare not comparable. Moreover,there is no standardized data format for the exchangeof PCF data that ensuresthe data sovereignty of the companies. A standardized interface for the exchangeof PCF data has also been absent until now. 

Catena-X Automotive Network e.V. wants to solve these problems with a promising approachthat is of great benefitnot exclusively, but in particular for the automotive value chain. “Membership in this networkis another importantmilestone for us,” explains Ingo Holstein, who as CHRO of VitescoTechnologies is responsible for sustainability: “In addition to extensive data material, we are also contributing our proven expertisein the field of life cycle assessment in order to advance the decarbonization of the automotive sector in cooperation with other companies.”