Topic Groups

All X-projects will develop information models to facilitate asset data exchange between business partners. Many companies will engage in multiple data spaces. When exchanging asset-related data throughout the lifecycle—spanning engineering, manufacturing, and operation—they seek to do so in a consistent manner for various business purposes. Therefore, data modeling must be standardized across multiple use cases.

To effectively implement data spaces, companies require asset information from a single source of truth, obtained directly from the original creator (e.g., the manufacturer). Information and documentation related to an asset must be linked to it in the form of a Digital Twin. This necessitates an Asset-Driven Data Management approach.

This topic group will define the requirements needed to achieve this objective.

The implementation of a circular economy (CE) requires the establishment of a robust data infrastructure. This topic group will evaluate various R-strategy selection processes based on data, compare approaches to ecological KPIs for a CE (excluding LCA-related KPIs), and gather data requirement clusters for the application of the DPP within the context of a CE.

Collaborative Engineering involves the exchange of engineering data between companies across various industries. This topic group will focus on identifying the requirements for such data exchange and defining the necessary semantics, grounded in the concepts of the asset administration shell.

This topic group is responsible for developing the concept of the modular “MX-Port,” building on the preliminary work from Factory-X and Catena-X. The MX-Port will establish the structure and guidelines for selecting and implementing various solutions.

The data exchange mechanisms for horizontal data exchange between companies are based on established concepts currently in productive use within Catena-X (DSP/DCP). Leveraging these foundations, the MX-Port will enhance and extend capabilities where necessary to enable interoperable data exchange across all industries represented by the participating projects.

This topic group will propose a common demo landscape, which can be used by participants of all Manufacturing-X initiatives to explore and learn about data spaces and their technical components. This provides a valuable opportunity for new X-Initiatives to gain experience and facilitate rapid adoption within their projects.

This topic group will develop an auditable security architecture based on existing standards and regulations, ensuring compliance with the security requirements of all participating projects. The focus will be on enabling secure data exchange across different industries, each of which may have varying levels of security requirements.

To ensure the continued operations and interoperability of all X-projects, it is essential to establish a level of governance. This governance will build upon the work initiated by the MX Guidance Board. The topic group will assess the governance plans of the various X-projects, identify areas where central governance is required to achieve project objectives, and propose an overarching governance model.

The workgroup will define the identification requirements for all X-initiatives, encompassing natural persons, legal entities, and objects, while ensuring legally compliant data exchange with secure identities. Additionally, it will assess whether and to what extent business requirements can be met using established technologies and standards such as SSI, DCP, and OIDC. Finally, the workgroup will evaluate the degree to which participant identification across data spaces must be harmonized to achieve interoperability.

This topic group will develop a two-year roadmap outlining key milestones, deliverables, and events across all participating projects. The objective is to enhance transparency and facilitate more effective collaboration.

This topic group will establish the architecture for vertical data exchange within the MX-Port concept.

Industry-wide adopted standards for characterizing manufacturing operations are currently lacking. Establishing such standards would facilitate a shared understanding of how to describe manufacturing processes, machine configurations, and reconfiguration operations on the shop floor.

This topic group will propose a common test landscape in which all projects can test their specific solutions and project assets against the same set of core services and functionalities. In this way, we ensure that solutions from all projects are using a harmonized technology stack, which is a prerequisite for interoperability across all initiatives in Manufacturing-X.