LINKS
Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA)
The Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) is the central point of contact for all topics related to the digital twin – an alliance of active creators who make the twin usable for industry by means of open technologies. As a member of IDTA, R. STAHL promotes the implementation of physical industrial products in the digital world.
AAS Specifications
Specifications define the software structure, interface and semantics of the asset administration shell and thus create the basis for the standardised digital twin. All specifications for the asset administration shell information model can be found here.
AAS Submodel Templates
Submodels constitute the content of the asset administration shell. They describe content-related or functional aspects of an asset. Find the overview of the official IDTA submodel templates here.
German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)
BMWK landing page about Industry 4.0 with a listing of all available media (articles, videos, press releases, publications).
List of publications of the BMWK about Industry 4.0 and the asset administrative shell. In particular with the publication "Asset administration shell in practice".
Plattform Industrie 4.0
To promote the digital transformation of manufacturing in Germany, companies, their workforce, trade unions, associations, science and politics have joined forces in the platform.
The partners of the platform see Industry 4.0 as a key opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of Germany as a production location. For them, digitalisation is a process of society as a whole, which can only be successful in dialogue. Plattform Industrie 4.0 promotes the development of Industry 4.0 in Germany by:
- Developing pre-competitive concepts and solutions and putting them into practice (these can be found in the online library).
- Supporting companies with recommendations for action, information and use cases for practical application (for example, in the Industry 4.0 map with more than 350 use cases and participation in the Transfer Network Industry 4.0).
- Feeding their ideas into the international Industry 4.0 discourse and participating in international standardisation processes (through more than ten international cooperations).
admin-shell-io by IDTA
Home of Asset Administration Shell (AAS)
This server offers various tools and examples explaining the concept of the asset administration shell (AAS) that are hosted under the GitHub organisation admin-shell-io.
AASX Package Explorer
GitHub - AASX Package Explorer
Tool for the asset administration shell: The AASX Package Explorer is the direct entry point for software developers. © Plattform Industrie 4.0
"The AASX Package Explorer helps you create your first asset administration shell easily and quickly. Many companies have already made use of this opportunity to explore the potential of the asset administration shell," according to Dr Michael Hoffmeister (Festo AG & Co. KG), chair of the ZVEI Working Group on "Models and Standards" in the Working Group "Reference Architectures, Standards and Norms" of Plattform Industrie 4.0 via the Explorer:
The tool helps you to create and easily edit asset administration shells in XML and JSON formats. Concept descriptions featuring ECLASS IRDIs are automatically created and referenced. Import and export functions – for example for BMEcat, AutomationML and OPC UA – allow for the swift integration of other data formats and relevant company data.
The AASX Package Explorer is an open source implementation that can be downloaded as a compiled program that is licensed under Eclipse Public License 2.0 (EPL 2.0).
Digital Data Chain Consortium (DDCC)
The Digital Data Chain Consortium aims to connect the technologies of IEC 61406 - digital nameplate, VDI 2770 – documentation and IEP – Internet Exchange Platform as a seamless data chain in the process industry.
In addition to detailed information on the individual topics, tools for checking IEC 61406 identification links, for example, are also available.
A MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was agreed between the IDTA and the DDCC, and the Handover Documentation submodel in the asset administration shell sets out the requirements of VDI 2770.
ESPR
European Commission website on the ESPR
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)
The new regulation will improve the recyclability of EU products, their energy efficiency and other aspects of ecological sustainability. It is currently on track to enter into force in mid-2026. Alongside product requirements, the regulation also contains the requirement for a digital product passport (DPP) for every product. The combination of asset administration shell and digital nameplates is expected to cover the requirements in the ESPR.