SmartFactory Kaiserslautern and Industrial Digital Twin Association agree on cooperation

Implementing sustainability in the production of the future digitally

Both associations aim to merge sustainability and digitalisation in order to advance climate protection in industry. This is the key point of the Memorandum of Understanding between the technology initiative SmartFactory KL e.V. (SF-KL) and the Industrial Digital Twin Association e.V. (IDTA). The cooperation is to be formalised in a small ceremony at the SF-KL stand (Hall 8, D 18) at Hannover Messe 2022 on 01.06.22 at 12 noon.

Implementing sustainability in production

In the development of the production of the future, the Digital Twin based on the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) plays a key role. ” Products and machines should be able to communicate actively in the future,” explains Prof. Martin Ruskowski, Chairman of the Board of SF-KL. “They should provide a multitude of their data via their Asset Administration Shell, including properties and capabilities as well as information on energy consumption and their carbon footprint.” Meik Billmann, Managing Director of IDTA, adds: “The Digital Twin opens up completely new possibilities for accessing and processing data from a wide range of sources over a life cycle. This makes calculations of emissions and consumption of machinery and equipment easier, for example.”

Active partnership

Both partners are actively involved in the development and implementation of use cases. “The cooperation with SmartFactory Kaiserlautern offers the opportunity to exchange our findings. This is a win-win situation for all association members and cooperation partners,” Billmann continues. It is clear to both associations that digitisation is an important instrument for the decarbonisation of industry. Together, they want to create greater awareness for the idea of production cycles and resource conservation in industry. For this purpose, the technical know-how for the implementation of the digital twin will be disseminated. “We are building a shared production in Kaiserslautern which aims at resilience and sustainability,” explains Martin Ruskowski. “In this skill-based production structure, the Asset Administration Shell plays a crucial role, whereby in the context of Industry 4.0 this always means a Digital Twin.”

With Digital Twins to a Sustainable Life Cycle Assessment

“First use cases have already shown how the implementation of a digital nameplate can be successful,” says Meik Billmann. “The SmartFactory-KL demonstrates the possibilities that the extension of this digital nameplate can provide. With our cooperation, we would like to jointly demonstrate these possibilities.” – “We want to combine various elements in the Digital Twins into our demonstrator ecosystem: the digital representation of a machine and its capabilities, as well as the entire history of a product in the form of its lifecycle file,” explains Martin Ruskowski. “IDTA is the ideal partner to bring our developments to industry.”

Hanover Messe as the suitable setting

The focus at Hannover Messe 2022 lies, among other topics, on sustainability. “Therefore, it was obvious for us to choose this location for the signing of the MoU,” explains Meik Billmann.

Date: Wednesday, 01 June 2022, Hall 8, Stand D 18, Hannover Messe.