diff --git a/.github/workflows/app-test-charts.yaml b/.github/workflows/app-test-charts.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e4e451de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/app-test-charts.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2021,2024 Contributors to the Eclipse Foundation
+#
+# See the NOTICE file(s) distributed with this work for additional
+# information regarding copyright ownership.
+#
+# This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+# terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 which is available at
+# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+################################################################################
+
+name: Perform Chart Tests
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      node_image:
+        description: 'kindest/node image for k8s kind cluster'
+        default: 'kindest/node:v1.27.3'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      upgrade_from:
+        description: 'chart version to upgrade from'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      helm_version:
+        description: 'helm version to test (default = latest)'
+        default: 'latest'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      node_image:
+        description: 'kindest/node image for k8s kind cluster'
+        # k8s version from 3.1 release as default
+        default: 'kindest/node:v1.27.3'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      upgrade_from:
+        description: 'chart version to upgrade from'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      helm_version:
+        description: 'helm version to test (default = latest)'
+        default: 'latest'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - release/**
+    paths:
+      - 'pom.xml'
+      - 'bpdm-**'
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+      - release/**
+jobs:
+  build-apps:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache-all.yaml
+
+  execute-tests:
+    needs:  build-apps
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Kubernetes KinD Cluster
+        uses: container-tools/kind-action@v2
+        with:
+          version: v0.20.0
+          node_image: ${{ github.event.inputs.node_image || 'kindest/node:v1.27.3' }}
+
+      - name: Set up Helm
+        uses: azure/setup-helm@v4
+        with:
+          version: ${{ github.event.inputs.helm_version || 'latest' }}
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.9'
+          check-latest: true
+
+      - name: Set up chart-testing
+        uses: helm/chart-testing-action@v2.6.1
+
+      - name: Download Pool Image
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: bpdm-pool-docker
+          path: /tmp
+
+      - name: Download Gate Image
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: bpdm-gate-docker
+          path: /tmp
+
+      - name: Download Orchestrator Image
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: bpdm-orchestrator-docker
+          path: /tmp
+
+      - name: Download Cleaning Service Dummy Image
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy-docker
+          path: /tmp
+
+      - name: Push Pool Image to Kind
+        run: |
+          docker load --input /tmp/bpdm-pool.tar
+          docker image tag bpdm-pool:test kind-registry:5000/bpdm-pool:test
+          docker push kind-registry:5000/bpdm-pool:test
+
+      - name: Push Gate Image to Kind
+        run: |
+          docker load --input /tmp/bpdm-gate.tar
+          docker image tag bpdm-gate:test kind-registry:5000/bpdm-gate:test
+          docker push kind-registry:5000/bpdm-gate:test
+
+      - name: Push Orchestrator Image to Kind
+        run: |
+          docker load --input /tmp/bpdm-orchestrator.tar
+          docker image tag bpdm-orchestrator:test kind-registry:5000/bpdm-orchestrator:test
+          docker push kind-registry:5000/bpdm-orchestrator:test
+
+      - name: Push Cleaning Service Dummy Image to Kind
+        run: |
+          docker load --input /tmp/bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy.tar
+          docker image tag bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy:test kind-registry:5000/bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy:test
+          docker push kind-registry:5000/bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy:test
+
+      - name: Create Test Values
+        run: |
+          mkdir charts/bpdm/ci
+          cat <<EOF > charts/bpdm/ci/test-values.yaml
+          bpdm-pool:
+            image:
+              registry: kind-registry:5000
+              repository: bpdm-pool
+              tag: test
+          bpdm-gate:
+            image:
+              registry: kind-registry:5000
+              repository: bpdm-gate
+              tag: test
+          bpdm-orchestrator:
+            image:
+              registry: kind-registry:5000
+              repository: bpdm-orchestrator
+              tag: test
+          bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy:
+            image:
+              registry: kind-registry:5000
+              repository: bpdm-cleaning-service-dummy
+              tag: test
+          EOF
+          echo "cat charts/bpdm/ci/test-values.yaml"
+          cat charts/bpdm/ci/test-values.yaml
+      - name: Create Chart-Testing Config
+        run: |
+          cat <<EOF > .chart-testing-config.yaml
+          chart-repos:
+            - bitnami=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
+          helm-extra-args: --timeout 600s
+          EOF
+          echo "cat .chart-testing-config.yaml"
+          cat .chart-testing-config.yaml
+      - name: Run chart-testing (install)
+        run: ct install --charts charts/bpdm --config .chart-testing-config.yaml
+
+      - name: Run helm upgrade
+        run: |
+          helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
+          helm repo add tractusx-dev https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
+          helm install bpdm-test tractusx-dev/bpdm ${{ github.event.inputs.upgrade_from && '--version github.event.inputs.upgrade_from' || '' }}
+          helm dependency update charts/bpdm
+          helm upgrade bpdm-test charts/bpdm
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-docker-all.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-docker-all.yaml
index 1cb164381..b3440d472 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-docker-all.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-docker-all.yaml
@@ -37,10 +37,6 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main
       - rc/**
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - main
-      - rc/**
 jobs:
   build-docker-pool:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/build-docker.yaml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/chart-test-lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/chart-test-lint.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc6d06e36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/chart-test-lint.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2021,2024 Contributors to the Eclipse Foundation
+#
+# See the NOTICE file(s) distributed with this work for additional
+# information regarding copyright ownership.
+#
+# This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+# terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 which is available at
+# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+################################################################################
+
+name: Lint Charts
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      helm_version:
+        description: 'helm version to test (default = latest)'
+        default: 'latest'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      helm_version:
+        description: 'helm version to test (default = latest)'
+        default: 'latest'
+        required: false
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  lint-test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Set up Helm
+        uses: azure/setup-helm@v4
+        with:
+          version: ${{ github.event.inputs.helm_version || 'latest' }}
+
+      - name: Set up chart-testing
+        uses: helm/chart-testing-action@v2.6.1
+
+      - name: Create Chart-Testing Config
+        run: |
+          cat <<EOF > .chart-testing-config.yaml
+          validate-maintainers: false
+          chart-repos:
+            - bitnami=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
+          EOF
+          echo "cat .chart-testing-config.yaml"
+          cat .chart-testing-config.yaml
+
+      - name: Run chart-testing (lint)
+        run: ct lint --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} --config .chart-testing-config.yaml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache-all.yaml b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache-all.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2a9cab5e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache-all.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2021,2024 Contributors to the Eclipse Foundation
+#
+# See the NOTICE file(s) distributed with this work for additional
+# information regarding copyright ownership.
+#
+# This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+# terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 which is available at
+# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+################################################################################
+
+name: 'Build and Cache All Docker Images'
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  workflow_call:
+jobs:
+  build-pool:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
+    with:
+      app: pool
+
+  build-gate:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
+    with:
+      app: gate
+
+  build-orchestrator:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
+    with:
+      app: orchestrator
+
+  build-cleaning-service-dummy:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
+    with:
+      app: cleaning-service-dummy
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13badb767
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-build-and-cache.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2021,2024 Contributors to the Eclipse Foundation
+#
+# See the NOTICE file(s) distributed with this work for additional
+# information regarding copyright ownership.
+#
+# This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+# terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 which is available at
+# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+################################################################################
+
+name: 'Build and Cache Docker Image'
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      app:
+        description: 'The name of the BPDM app to build'
+        type: choice
+        required: true
+        options:
+          - pool
+          - gate
+          - orchestrator
+          - cleaning-service-dummy
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      app:
+        description: 'The name of the BPDM app to build'
+        type: string
+        required: true
+
+jobs:
+  build-image-and-upload:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Build Pool Image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          context: .
+          file: docker/${{ inputs.app }}/Dockerfile
+          tags: bpdm-${{ inputs.app }}:test
+          outputs: type=docker,dest=/tmp/bpdm-${{ inputs.app }}.tar
+
+      - name: Upload Pool Image
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: bpdm-${{ inputs.app }}-docker
+          path: /tmp/bpdm-${{ inputs.app }}.tar
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm-chart-lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/helm-chart-lint.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index f80c7582a..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/helm-chart-lint.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-################################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2021,2024 Contributors to the Eclipse Foundation
-#
-# See the NOTICE file(s) distributed with this work for additional
-# information regarding copyright ownership.
-#
-# This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
-# terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0 which is available at
-# https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
-# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-# under the License.
-#
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-################################################################################
-
-name: Lint and Test Charts
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      node_image:
-        description: 'kindest/node image for k8s kind cluster'
-        # k8s version from 3.1 release as default
-        default: 'kindest/node:v1.27.3'
-        required: false
-        type: string
-      upgrade_from:
-        description: 'chart version to upgrade from'
-        # chart version from 3.1 release as default
-        default: '4.0.4'
-        required: false
-        type: string
-      helm_version:
-        description: 'helm version to test (default = latest)'
-        default: 'latest'
-        required: false
-        type: string
-
-jobs:
-  lint-test:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Kubernetes KinD Cluster
-        uses: container-tools/kind-action@v2
-        with:
-          # upgrade version, default (v0.17.0) uses node image v1.21.1 and doesn't work with more recent node image versions
-          version: v0.20.0
-          # default value for event_name != workflow_dispatch
-          node_image: ${{ github.event.inputs.node_image || 'kindest/node:v1.27.3' }}
-
-      - name: Set up Helm
-        uses: azure/setup-helm@v4
-        with:
-          version: ${{ github.event.inputs.helm_version || 'latest' }}
-
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.9'
-          check-latest: true
-      - name: Set up chart-testing
-        uses: helm/chart-testing-action@v2.6.1
-
-      - name: Run chart-testing (list-changed)
-        id: list-changed
-        run: |
-          changed=$(ct list-changed --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }})
-          if [[ -n "$changed" ]]; then
-            echo "changed=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          fi
-
-      - name: Create Chart-Testing Config
-        run: |
-          cat <<EOF > .chart-testing-config.yaml
-          validate-maintainers: false
-          chart-repos:
-            - bitnami=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
-          helm-extra-args: --timeout 600s
-          EOF
-          echo "cat .chart-testing-config.yaml"
-          cat .chart-testing-config.yaml
-
-
-      - name: Run chart-testing (lint)
-        run: ct lint --target-branch ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} --config .chart-testing-config.yaml
-      - name: Run chart-testing (install)
-        run: ct install --charts charts/bpdm --config .chart-testing-config.yaml
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' || steps.list-changed.outputs.changed == 'true'
-
-        # Upgrade the released chart version with the locally available chart
-        # default value for event_name != workflow_dispatch
-      - name: Run helm upgrade
-        run: |
-          helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
-          helm repo add tractusx-dev https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
-          helm install bpdm-test tractusx-dev/bpdm --version ${{ github.event.inputs.upgrade_from || '4.0.4' }}
-          helm dependency update charts/bpdm
-          helm upgrade bpdm-test charts/bpdm
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' || steps.list-changed.outputs.changed == 'true'
diff --git a/docs/developer/README.md b/docs/developer/README.md
index c79c2ee74..f840ad7bc 100644
--- a/docs/developer/README.md
+++ b/docs/developer/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,21 @@
 
 Documentation here concerns developers who want to contribute to this repository.
 
+## Apps and Charts
+
+The CICD pipeline tests new code contributions by deploying them in the current version of the BPDM chart.
+In this way we can perform system tests in an environment that get close to actual productive environments as possible.
+As a result, the BPDM charts always should be up-to-date with the newest code contributions.
+If a breaking change of an app feature would lead to incompatibility with the current charts, the charts need to be updated.
+You can say that changing the chart accordingly is also part of any app feature or fix. This has the following advantages and disadvantages.
+
+Advantages:
+- The whole code base is always up-to-date and compatible with each other
+- Allows for more sophisticated testing leading to lower errors on the main branch
+
+Disadvantages:
+- Changes in the apps have direct impact on the charts (Leading to potentially bigger and more complicated pull requests)
+
 ## License Check
 
 Licenses of all maven dependencies need to be approved by eclipse.