Asset Administration Shell -

The Innovation Initiative Wire Harness (IIWH)

Challenge: Digital of the Value Chain for the Wiring Harness

In automotive development and production, the wire harness is one of the most complex and expensive single components of the vehicle today. The entire product development process is undergoing a profound transformation towards automation. This automation is only possible if it is flanked by digital continuity along the value chain, even across company boundaries. An essential basis for this is a continuous digital representation of all machines and processes involved in the value creation process as interoperable digital twins. The Asset Administration Shell provides the technological basis for this and enables the respective "asset" (cable, connector, wiring harness, machine, etc.) to automatically run through essential process steps as a so-called "Industrie 4.0 component."

Emergence of the Project as a Subproject of the IILS

The project "Asset Administration Shell for the Wiring Harness" (VWS4LS) emerged from the Innovation Initiative Wire Harness . VWS4LS is a joint project that is funded as a regional innovation cluster (35c) as part of the German government's economic stimulus package 35c "Investments in the future for vehicle manufacturers and the supplier industry". Collaboration with and funding from various industry partners listed at the bottom of the page are essential to the project. The project starts in December 2021 and runs for 3 years.

Project Partners of the VWS4LS

The consortium maps the value chain: from the OEM to the fabricator and component supplier to the manufacturer of process and production technology. The consortium comprises of:

• Coroplast Fritz Müller GmbH & Co. KG
• DilT GmbH (Schleuniger AG)
• Festo SE & Co. KG
• TSK Test Systems GmbH (Komax Holding AG)
• Kostal Contact Systems GmbH
• Kromberg & Schubert Automotiv GmbH & Co. KG
• Kuka Germany GmbH
• Lisa Dräxlmaier GmbH
• Wezag GmbH & Co. KG

Mercedes-Benz AG and Siemens AG are associated partners. They are involved from the innovation initiative wire harness as an OEM and a manufacturer of digital tools.

Project structure and subprojects of VWS4LS

In order to implement digitization along the process, the project is divided into three subprojects on the key value creation stages (subprojects 2-4). Five additional subprojects are defined as technical cross-sectional projects. Subprojects 9 and 10 deal with the intensive transfer of the project - this includes the piloting and the demonstrator, but also the set-up and preparation for practice, in particular with the Industry 4.0 transfer network.

Close cooperation with the Industrie 4.0 platform, the IDTA and other management shell stakeholders

VWS4LS strives to work closely with the leading institutions and experts in the field of Asset Administration Shell. These are in particular the following actors:

• Platform Industry 4.0
• German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) and German Engineering Federation (VDMA)
• Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA)
• Open Platform Communication Foundation (OPC Foundation)
• German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and German Institute for Standardization (DIN)

In addition, VWS4LS strives for a close exchange with the following projects on a professional level: