German Edge Cloud (GEC) and Cofinity-X have announced the implementation of a groundbreaking showcase for interoperable data exchange between two major industrial ecosystems, Catena-X and Factory-X. This milestone marks a significant step towards the realization of a seamlessly networked Manufacturing-X architecture in Europe.
The demonstration will focus on the technical integration between Catena-X, an open, federated dataspace for the automotive industry, and Factory-X, a cross-industry reference architecture for digital, networked production. Through this showcase, the two companies aim to enable continuous, sovereign data flows across company and industry boundaries, promoting a more interconnected and efficient manufacturing industry in Europe.
The key to this integration lies in the technical basis provided by German Edge Cloud’s ONCITE Digital Production System (DPS) and Cofinity-X’s Dataspace OS. The ONCITE DPS acts as a central data hub within the factory, collecting and contextualizing production data from various sources and preparing it for transfer to higher-level IT systems and dataspace connectors.
According to Dieter Meuser, CEO of German Edge Cloud, “Our task is to structure and integrate production data in such a way that it can be used confidently along the value chains.”
The Dataspace OS connector then allows companies to securely and compliantly integrate this data into the Catena-X dataspace and share it with their partners, while retaining full control over their data, access rights, and terms of use.
As the operating company, Cofinity-X provides the required dataspace infrastructure and manages central services such as company onboarding, identity and rights management, and registration of Dataspace Connectors. This creates a technical and organizational framework for secure, reliable, and scalable data exchange across industries.
Thomas Rösch, CEO of Cofinity-X, explains that “the showcase demonstrates that federated dataspaces work across industries,” and adds that they are “laying the foundation for interoperability – today between Catena-X for the automotive industry and Factory-X as an industrial ecosystem, tomorrow for many other industries.”
Within this partnership, Cofinity-X and German Edge Cloud have clearly defined, complementary roles. While Cofinity-X focuses on horizontal integration between companies, German Edge Cloud is responsible for vertical integration within companies and intra-factory networking. This standardized approach enables structured data exchange along the value chain and ensures a seamless connection between ecosystems.
The model factory of SmartFactory Kaiserslautern (SFKL), which features the production cell ‘PHUKET’, serves as a real production demonstrator for this showcase. The modular, service-oriented production facility showcases how digital twins based on the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), OPC UA-based machine communication, and sovereign data exchange can interact in a real manufacturing environment.
Prof. Dr. Martin Ruskowski, CEO of SFKL, emphasizes the importance of interoperable dataspaces and a robust reference architecture in realizing the vision of Manufacturing-X, stating, “With our model factory, we are demonstrating how ecosystems can be connected in a concrete manner – in a way that is reproducible and transferable to industrial production landscapes.”
The live demonstration of this joint showcase will take place at Hannover Messe in April 2026, showcasing how different data ecosystems can work together seamlessly and how the European Manufacturing-X vision can be implemented in industrial practice. German Edge Cloud, Cofinity-X, and SmartFactory Kaiserslautern are making a concrete contribution to the digital sovereignty of European industry.
Interested parties can find the companies at Hannover Messe in the following locations: GEC (Hall 16/A16), Cofinity-X (Hall 13/C24), SFKL (Hall 13/C35).
