Jinki Ham (CEO of Glassdome): How PCF and Catena‑X reshape global automotive supply chains

Could you briefly explain what Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) is and why it has become such a critical topic for global (automotive) manufacturers today?

Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) refers to the quantified greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product throughout its entire lifecycle—from raw material extraction and manufacturing to distribution, use, and end-of-life treatment—calculated on a per-unit basis in accordance with international standards such as ISO 14067.

Today, for global automotive manufacturers, PCF is no longer a matter of sustainability messaging or voluntary environmental commitments. Regulations such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU Battery Regulation (EUBR), and Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements are making the precise reporting of carbon emissions data an increasingly critical regulatory obligation across global markets.

As a result, PCF is evolving into a critical trade compliance issue and a key business indicator that directly impacts market access and export competitiveness.

Given the highly complex and multi-tiered nature of automotive supply chains involving tens of thousands of suppliers, the ability to transparently and accurately track and manage carbon data across the entire value chain has become a critical challenge that directly affects the competitiveness and long-term viability of both OEMs and suppliers.

Glassdome is playing a key role in bringing Catena-X, especially the PCF use case, to the South Korean automotive industry. How did you first engage with Catena-X, and how do you see your role in enabling Korean companies to connect to global data ecosystems?

While working closely with leading Korean battery and automotive manufacturers to navigate increasingly complex global regulations, Glassdome closely followed Catena-X from its early stages, as its vision of establishing a global standard for transparent supply chain data exchange while ensuring data sovereignty strongly resonated with us.

Following Glassdome’s participation in Hannover Messe 2024, we established direct relationships within the Catena-X ecosystem and have continued close collaboration ever since. Glassdome has been an official Catena-X member since 2024.

Although Korea is a major pillar of the global automotive and battery supply chain, many manufacturing companies—particularly SMEs—have faced significant barriers to entering the global data ecosystem.

Glassdome acts as an end-to-end gateway by adapting Catena-X standards to Asian manufacturing environments, enabling Korean companies to connect to the global data ecosystem in a secure and reliable manner without requiring extensive changes to existing IT infrastructure.

Through the PCF pilot involving KGM, LG Electronics, and multiple suppliers, you aim to successfully demonstrate end-to-end data exchange. Why is this pilot such an important milestone for participating companies and the broader Catena-X ecosystem?

This pilot goes beyond a simple proof of concept (PoC). It represents the first case in Asia to demonstrate that carbon data can be securely exchanged in real time across the entire value chain of an operating automotive supply chain.

Participating organizations—including KGM, LG Electronics, suppliers such as Shinsung Autotech and New Material Industry, as well as LG Chem—have gained practical experience in implementing carbon data exchange aligned with global regulatory requirements.

More importantly, this represents a significant milestone for the broader Catena-X ecosystem itself.

The pilot has demonstrated in practice that the Catena-X architecture and the Cofinity-X network can operate effectively not only in Europe, but also within major Asian manufacturing hubs. In doing so, it has shown the real potential for Catena-X to evolve into a truly global standard data space capable of connecting the worldwide automotive industry through trusted and standardized data exchange.

This pilot aims to enable data exchange across multiple tiers of the supply chain. Why is this kind of multi-tier collaboration so important, and why has it been so difficult to achieve in the past?

To calculate an accurate Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), emissions data must be accumulated across the entire value chain—not only from OEMs, but also from Tier 1, Tier 2, and lower-tier suppliers. Multi-tier collaboration is therefore fundamental to ensuring credible PCF calculations.

Historically, two major barriers have limited such collaboration.

The first is data sovereignty and security. Companies have often hesitated to share carbon-related information due to concerns about exposing sensitive operational or business data, such as cost structures, material compositions, or production efficiency information.

The second is infrastructure disparity. Lower-tier suppliers frequently lack the digital capabilities required to collect, manage, and standardize emissions data.

By combining real-time, shop-floor-based carbon data collection and PCF calculation capabilities with Catena-X’s data sovereignty framework, approaches like ours can significantly reduce these barriers and make broader supply chain collaboration more feasible.

How would you describe the current level of awareness and readiness among Korean manufacturers when it comes to Catena-X and data-driven collaboration?

As global environmental regulations become more imminent, awareness and sense of urgency among large Korean manufacturers have increased significantly. However, while awareness is growing, relatively few organizations have fully translated that urgency into operational systems or supply chain-wide implementation strategies.

For many SMEs that form the backbone of manufacturing supply chains, there is clear recognition of the importance of carbon data management and supply chain collaboration, but practical uncertainty remains around where and how to begin.

In response, Glassdome is supporting ecosystem-wide readiness by enabling large enterprises to improve supply chain data integrity while also providing SaaS-based solutions designed to lower adoption barriers for smaller manufacturers. Through this approach, Glassdome is helping accelerate practical implementation across the broader manufacturing ecosystem.

How is the South Korean government reacting to developments like Catena-X and global carbon data regulations? Are you seeing active support or alignment with these initiatives?

Given Korea’s export-driven economy, the government has introduced various initiatives aimed at helping domestic manufacturers respond to evolving global carbon regulations and data requirements.

Major ministries, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), have expanded support programs and guidelines related to product carbon footprint calculation and verification.

There is also increasing recognition of interoperability as a key requirement for future supply chain competitiveness, alongside growing efforts to encourage collaboration with private-sector-led global data space initiatives.

Looking beyond PCF, what is the long-term value of Catena-X for the automotive industry from your perspective and how does your collaboration with Cofinity-X contribute to building this global ecosystem?

The long-term value of Catena-X lies in enabling greater transparency across the entire lifecycle of the automotive industry.

What begins with PCF and carbon data exchange may eventually evolve into infrastructure supporting quality traceability, early supply chain risk detection, battery recycling and circularity, and broader circular economy initiatives.

We view Catena-X as one of the most significant frameworks currently enabling this type of industrial-scale collaboration.

We firmly believe the collaboration between Glassdome and Cofinity-X plays a critical role in establishing Catena-X as a truly global supply chain data highway by bringing trusted primary measured data from Asian manufacturing operations into the global network in a reliable and interoperable manner.