Supplier resilience · for car manufacturers and their suppliers

From a supplier warning to a decision in time

How a car manufacturer walks this with us: what we build on top of Catena-X, how we connect to it, one warning followed down the supply chain, and the journey in small steps.

1 · The gap

The data already moves. The gap is what happens after the warning.

Through Catena-X, demand, capacity, quality and traceability data move between manufacturers and their suppliers through certified applications. What is often not settled: who owns a warning, what is decided, by when, and whether anyone can prove it happened before a critical supplier stops delivering.

Who sees it

Which tool or person watches each critical supplier.

Who owns it

A named person, bound by a rule, not an inbox.

By when

A deadline that fits inside the days of stock.

Proven

A record of every decision, for an auditor or a board.

Does this match what you see in your own supply chain?

2 · What we build

A layer on top of what you run, not a replacement for any of it

Our layer
The method and the record
For every critical supplier: who watches, the escalation rule, the owner, the decision with a name and a date, and the record. The system recommends; people decide.
runs today
Your own tools
ERP, SRM, planning, quality, finance
Including the spreadsheets nobody owns. We register them; we do not replace them.
yours, unchanged
Catena-X
The network, your set-up
Sovereign, standardised exchange: your connector (EDC), digital twins, and the certified apps for demand and capacity, quality and short-term supply (PURIS).
yours, unchanged

Catena-X makes the exchange sovereign. We make the signal actionable and accountable.

3 · How we connect to Catena-X

Step by step: no connection to start, your connector in the pilot

In the Scan · 3 weeks

No system access needed. Per critical supplier we record which Catena-X use cases are already live, which tool watches it, who owns the warning and the escalation rule. Filled by hand or from a spreadsheet export.

runs today

In the pilot · 90 days

The loop reads the signals through your own connector and the certified apps already in place, under your usage policies: signal, owner, decision, proof.

built with the pilot

In operation · annual

Connector and policy operations, data-quality monitoring, and onboarding suppliers not yet on Catena-X, each as its own line if you want it.

not built yet

What this means for you

You keep sovereignty over your data and your set-up. Nothing is exchanged beyond what your policies allow. Your certified apps stay; the Scan shows where they stop being enough.

Said plainly

We are not an accredited Catena-X app provider, and no Catena-X connection of ours runs today. The connection is built with you in the pilot, on your set-up.

4 · Why the gap sits here

The network is strong. The apps closest to a line stop are the thinnest.

1,085

Active participants, Sep 2026

Report, p. 6

175 → 15

Days to onboard: first 100 → latest 100

Report, p. 15

3 · 2 · 2

Accredited providers nearest a line stop: Demand and Capacity Management · Quality Management · Short Term Supply Management (PURIS)

Report, p. 14

20 · 18

For comparison, the technical enablers: Digital Twin Registry · EDC Connector

Report, p. 14

Source: Catena-X — State of the Network 2026, as of September 7, 2026. Providers may serve more than one use case. The report’s economic figures are modelled, not realised, as it states itself; we do not use them. Open the report

5 · The supply chain, end to end

One warning, followed from the sub-supplier to the line

Tier 2
The cause
A sub-supplier loses capacity: a fire, an insolvency, a missing part.
Tier 1
The signal
The tier-1 supplier’s capacity or stock drops and is shared through Catena-X.
Catena-X
The exchange
Demand and capacity, PURIS or quality data reach the manufacturer.
See
Seen
A tool or a person notices it. Days to see.
Route
Owned
A rule puts it on a named person’s desk, not in an inbox.
Decide
Decided
An option, a person, a date. Days to decide.
Recover · prove
Recovered and recorded
Alternative, stock or expedite. Days to recover. The record stays.

Per critical supplier: days of stock ≥ days to see + days to decide + days to recover.

The outlined steps are where the Scan works. Every term is a figure you state; a missing one stays unknown, never guessed.

Unseen

Nothing watches. The first warning is the delivery that does not arrive.

Unrouted

Seen, but no rule or owner turns it into a decision.

Too slow

Seen and routed, but recovery takes longer than the stock lasts.

Unknown

A term is missing. The Scan states which one.

In time

The race is won, with days to spare.

Every supplier not in time gets a decision with a name and a date: accept the risk, close seeing and deciding, close recovery, or get the missing facts first. Not deciding is not a decision.

6 · The journey with us

Small steps. Each ends in a decision you sign.

Step	What happens	You hold afterwards	Who signs	Price
Scope call	One plant, one material group, or up to 50 critical suppliers. Who needs to be in the room.	A fixed scope	—	Free
Price call	Scope and price talked through live; every question answered before anything is sent.	The quote, on a private page	The sponsor signs the Scan	—
The Scan · 3 weeks	Align, Discover, Diagnose, Prioritize: the register, the single-source map, the race per supplier, the decisions, the value floor in your numbers.	Eight deliverables and a pilot design	Sponsor and finance: go or stop	€15,000–€25,000, fixed once scoped
The pilot · 90 days	The loop built on your sources, rules and Catena-X set-up, measured against the floor.	A working loop and every decision on record	Sponsor, finance, process owner: scale, fix or stop	Priced on what the Scan finds
In operation	More suppliers and sites, then sub-tiers. Quarterly reassessment against the same rule.	A governed record per critical supplier	The process owners, each quarter	Annual, by suppliers and sites

You never buy more than the last step proved. Our part is guaranteed: if the Scan’s eight deliverables are not delivered, we finish them at no extra fee.

7 · What holds throughout

Four rules that do not change between steps

People decide

No automatic supplier holds, order cancellations or payment stops. Ever.

Your numbers

Every figure in the business case comes from your own data.

No prediction

We do not predict supplier failure. We show whether you would be in time if one failed.

Said first

The Scan is new, and this is its first use on supplier risk. Supply-chain duties (LkSG, CSDDD) are confirmed by your counsel.

See the race on a fictional plant

The Supplier Resilience Scan runs on a fictional plant, end to end, in your browser. In a real Scan, every bar is your own number, for up to 50 critical suppliers.

Open the Supplier Scan