STAYING INFORMED ABOUT FIRMWARE VERSIONS AND UPDATES WITH THE ASSET ADMINISTRATION SHELL

Keeping track of so many networked components from different manufacturers can be a Herculean task for production facility operators. What is more, cybersecurity is being put to the test. From communication at field level with a connection to a fieldbus, to direct integration in the company's internal network – any and all products could be a gateway for cyber attacks.

This means that firmware should be checked regularly to ensure it is kept up-to-date, with regards to troubleshooting, new features or even security loopholes already identified by the manufacturer. However, the problem is that component manufacturers do not typically have direct contact with the end customers. Often, current device information and updates are only published online. Yet to continually check every component for available updates and safety notices is an extremely time-consuming task and in most cases cannot be accomplished as part of everyday operations.

With asset administration shells in a cloud repository, this is no longer a problem. Simply by scanning a QR code on the product, you are provided with access to the manufacturer's instance asset administration shell. Once there, manufacturers offer registered users the opportunity to subscribe to the instance. Provided they do this, end customers benefit from the automated comparison of the firmware version currently installed with the latest version of the type asset administration shell.

If these versions differ, the end customer is automatically notified about the new firmware version via e-mail. This information is also displayed in their dashboard. The customer can decide whether they want to perform the update.

Another advantage is that the installation location of the components in the system can be linked with the asset administration shell. Maintaining this data eliminates the need to carry out time-consuming searches for products in the system.