Asset Administration Shell (AAS)
What is Asset Administration Shell (AAS)?
The Asset Administration Shell (AAS), also known as the "administration shell", is a digital image, i.e. a digital twin of an asset and a central component and result of Industry 4.0. This digital twin contains all relevant information and functions of the assets for business purposes.
The asset administration shell is a meta-data model for all assets in the business world and thus enables standardized interoperability across existing systems, i.e. the exchange of digital twins from design, to the workshop office, through production to the customer of the finished product. Across manufacturers and worldwide. It solves the problem that information about a product was previously only available manually, on paper or in proprietary workflows, making it virtually impossible to exchange.
Using a globally standardized "lexicon", the asset administration shell offers uniform semantics for all terms and information about components, software or parts in order to describe, represent and connect their digital twins in a uniform way.
Why is the administration shell so important?
The asset administration shell provides a basis for digital twins - i.e. the digital images of the objects including all relevant data of the respective assets.
As a standardized metadata model, the asset administration shell enables the desired information to be described, managed and exchanged consistently and interoperably across all assets.
By using the AAS, information about the entire life cycle of a product - from development, production and delivery to operation, maintenance and disposal - can be centrally recorded, managed and tracked. This enables better planning, monitoring, analysis and optimization. As a result, business processes can be improved, production efficiency increased, maintenance work coordinated and thus the overall efficiency and service life of the assets improved.
This is crucial not only to facilitate collaboration between different manufacturers and systems, but also to make it more error-independent and efficient based on standards.
In addition, the administration shell offers a manufacturer-independent connection of machines and systems to economic and legal processes, for example to fulfill regulatory requirements.
The use of common standardized data models facilitates global data management.
The problem
Where is the asset administration shell already being used today?
Digital Product Passport (DPP) and CO2 reporting (PCF)
The regulatory requirements in Europe and worldwide are continuously increasing. Against this backdrop, the asset administration shell is a well-suited technology for compliance with the new regulatory requirements.
The Digital Product Passport can be formally verified with two AAS submodels. For CO2 reporting, the PCF submodel must also be completed in order to comply with the regulations.
OUR SOLUTION: our offer in the LNI 4.0 - AAS Testbed
Would you like to get to know the AAS testbed free of charge?
The ballpoint pen demonstrator
The Digital Center Hannover hosts the LNI 4.0 Testbed and operates a demonstrator: the "Administration Shell Ballpoint Pen Demonstrator".
The administration shell for this pen contains all information such as material composition, manufacturing process, maintenance history, logistics processes and CO2 reporting as well as the associated product passport. If the pen needs to be repaired or recycled, all the necessary information can be retrieved from the AAS so that action can be taken quickly, and the demonstrator also fulfills CO2 reporting requirements and creates a product passport based on several administration shell submodels (AAS submodel templates). The special feature here is always the implementation based on the international AAS standard.
The "Administration Shell Ballpoint Pen Demonstrator" demonstrator not only consistently implements the administration shell, but also maps the international connection to other metadata models, e.g. between the AAS and the SMP (Smart Manufacturing Profiles) from CESMII / US.
Testing in the testbed
The LNI 4.0 AAS testbed provides a testing opportunity for manufacturers and users. Various providers make the administration shells of their machines or SW product suites available.
The relevant data is collected and processed during the production of the ballpoint pen, i.e. in the factory, whereby a digital twin of the product (ballpoint pen) is created and updated.
The testbed thus offers the possibility of mapping various business purposes or regulatory requirements, all based on the standard description for digital twins with the asset administration shell.
This includes the creation of a digital product passport or the report of CO2 consumption for the creation of a product, the selection of a production machine based on the requirements in the Bill of Material (BoM) of a product or the automatic interaction between the administration shells of different machines to create a desired product.
Foundation and objectives of the AAS testbed at LNI 4.0
The Administration Shell Testbed was founded in 2018 with the aim of developing industrial solutions that both contain and manage the administration shell.
These solutions are tested as prototypes across all manufacturers in a protected, pre-competitive environment. The testbed has been based at the Digital Center Hanover since the beginning and is connected to this first digital center for SMEs, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWK) in Germany.
The Digital Center Hannover has a similar task to LNI 4.0, namely to bring solutions for Industry 4.0 and thus the administration shell to SMEs. This is why the AAS testbed from LNI 4.0 and the Mittelstand digital Zentrum Hannover are a perfect match.
Testbed request form
Would you like to get to know our LNI 4.0 AAS testbed free of charge and without obligation? You have the opportunity to arrange a free introductory meeting with us.
Please fill out the form below and select a suitable date.
Next date:
43rd regular meeting
29.11.2024, 12:30-14:00 (TEAMS)
Topics: AAS BoA, HMI 2025, planning 2025