How Teamcenter is being connected to tomorrow’s data ecosystems and why this is key for sustainable product development
Anyone discussing the CO₂ footprint of a product today quickly encounters a fundamental problem: the numbers are barely comparable. Different calculation methods, incomplete supplier data, missing standards – what one company communicates as a sustainability metric often bears little resemblance to the next company’s figure. This is precisely where the Decide4Eco research project comes in. Nexpirit is involved as an IT solutions provider and brings Teamcenter to the table.
The Problem: Sustainability Data Without a Common Language
Whether a CO₂ value is accurate depends on many factors: Which lifecycle phases were considered? Are transport, assembly, and recycling included? Does the data come from the manufacturer itself – or was it estimated? Calculation methods differ so significantly that a direct comparison of two products is often simply not possible.
There is also the practical question of data exchange: a smartphone consists of over 200 components from dozens of suppliers. How are manufacturers supposed to obtain the sustainability data for all these parts – by Excel file? By email request? This approach doesn’t scale, isn’t reliable, and isn’t standardized.
The Solution: A Trustworthy Data Space for the Entire Supply Chain
Decide4Eco develops methods and tools that allow sustainability information to be structured, standardized, and securely exchanged across the entire supply chain. The centerpiece: so-called data spaces, as developed within the Manufacturing-X funding initiative.
The key advantage: the data is not actually stored within the data space itself. Instead, it works like a large, secure contract registry. A manufacturer defines who is allowed to access their data and the data is provided on request directly from their own system via a secured connection. No datasets in the hands of third parties, no monopolization by individual providers.
The technical foundation is the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) — the established standard for digital twins in industry. Nexpirit’s task in the project: connecting Teamcenter to exactly this data space.
What Nexpirit Is Implementing
Until now, Teamcenter users have had to leave the PLM system whenever they need sustainability data from external sources. Nexpirit is changing that. The goal is to connect Teamcenter directly to the Manufacturing-X data space – via the OpenPDM integration platform from consortium lead PROSTEP AG.
In concrete terms: a Teamcenter user selects a component, requests its CO₂ value directly within the system and automatically receives the response from the data space, provided a corresponding agreement with the supplier exists. The value flows directly into the component’s Environmental Profile. No manual data maintenance, no Excel lists, no media breaks.
Why This Is Bigger Than a Single Project
Decide4Eco is part of the federally funded Manufacturing-X initiative — a broader program aimed at building data ecosystems for German industry. Running in parallel is Catena-X, which develops similar standards specifically for the automotive sector. What emerges from the project is therefore not a standalone solution – it’s infrastructure.
For Nexpirit, this means: Teamcenter customers will in future be able to actively participate in these data ecosystems and provide or retrieve their sustainability data in a standards-compliant way. An important step toward a circular economy and transparent supply chains.
Project info
Project: Decide4Eco
Project volume: approx. 6 Million Euros
