The Digital Twin in the Automotive Industry: The Framework for Standardized and Independent Data Exchange
Dialogue between IDTA and the automotive industry gives impetus for digitization
On December 8 and 9, 2022, Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) in cooperation with VDI Technologiezentrum invited to the AAS Tech Days at the Gläserne Manufaktur, a production site of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH in Dresden. At the event, the IDTA community met with vehicle manufacturers and the supplier industry to engage in a joint dialog. This will create the transfer of the Digital Twin, based on Asset Administration Shell (AAS) technology, to the automotive industry. At the event in Dresden, around 140 participants received recent information about the open source implementation of the AAS and the process of developing and publishing AAS submodels with the IDTA.
In a total of eight presentations, experts explained various uses of AAS, demonstrating that it is already indispensable in many industrial applications. Active submodels of the AAS in key areas such as Digital Nameplate, Bills of Materials or Product Carbon Footprint have proven the success of the technology. The technical requirements for implementing the Digital Twin are fully covered by the specifications for the information model. During interactive workshops, participants exchanged important impulses for digitization in the automotive industry.
Consolidating data from different sources
“The interoperable Digital Twin makes it possible to consolidate data from different data sources, creating an open ecosystem that benefits the entire automotive value chain. The two days of IDTA Tech Days were the perfect format for newcomers looking for quick access to the technology of the AAS and its application areas, as well as for experts with extensive knowledge who want to share new ideas and experiences. We hope to attract further followers to our network in order to advance the digitization of the automotive industry,” says Dr. Dirk Thieme, Head of New Mobility and Innovation at Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH.
“At the event, we brought together stakeholders from the IDTA community and 28 projects funded under the German government’s Economic Stimulus Package 35c (KoPa 35c) for future investments into the automotive industry. Among others, Catena-X Automotive Network, as one of the largest KoPa 35c projects, exemplified how the Digital Twin is used to manage the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), a method to determine the climate impact of a product, and the data ecosystem for cross-organizational data exchange. The AAS technology facilitates simple networking between companies and machines and creates a framework for standardized and independent information flow, thus holding potential for addressing a wide range of challenges in the automotive industry,” says Dr. Daniel Senff, Head of Digital Transformation, Security Research and Mobility at VDI Technologiezentrum.