VWS4LS

Review of the expert network meeting on the Asset Administration Shell on February 19, 2025

On February 19, 2025, the fourth expert network meeting on the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) took place at ARENA2036 in Stuttgart. The event provided a valuable opportunity for representatives of the KoPa35c and Manufacturing-X projects to discuss current developments, technological advances and innovative implementation examples.

Exciting insights and valuable networking

Over 80 participants received comprehensive information on the latest developments in the Asset Administration Shell and were able to learn about practical use cases. The event brought together experts from various projects. Numerous projects from the KoPa35c environment, which were launched in 2024, rely on the Asset Administration Shell as the basis for data representation.

Focus on interoperability and standardization

As the international sponsoring organization of the AAS, the IDTA was once again actively involved in order to share knowledge and ensure consistency in the development of standards and technologies. The VDI Technology Center supported the event in the role of project sponsor. Various presentations and discussion rounds highlighted how essential a common interpretation of standards is for interoperability.

Agenda highlights: Building Blocks of the Asset Administration Shell

The morning was characterized by contributions on technological basics, architectures and concepts of the Asset Administration Shell. In particular, the "building blocks" presented were discussed intensively, as they serve as basic building blocks for implementation in various domains.
The event began with a welcome from Georg Schnauffer (ARENA2036), Stephan Hamm (Smart Factory KL) and Christian Mosch (IDTA). This was followed by exciting keynote speeches, including:

• Overview of the project landscape by Christian Lindemann (VDI-TZ)
• Security specification and best practices by Andreas Orzelski (Phoenix Contact)
• Backend integration and best practices presented by Jörg Nagel (neoception)
• Practical example of the integration of AAS in product catalogs by Markus Rentschler (ARENA2036)
• EDC integration into the AAS by Thomas Berger (msg for automotive)
• Digital identities and eIDAS 2.0 by Michael Jochem (Bosch)
• Product Change Notifications (PCN) in the AAS by Constantin Liepert (Siemens)
• Project Twin4Trucks: Cross-company tracking with VWS presented by Monireh Pourjafarian (DFKI)

In the afternoon, in-depth workshops were held on selected topics from the morning, including the implementation of component VWS, the modeling of product interfaces and the integration of AAS in backend systems. The workshop results were then summarized and discussed.

Successful exchange and outlook

The meeting provided an excellent platform for the exchange between experts and users of the Asset Administration Shell. The close dialogue between projects and organizations promotes the sustainable further development of AAS technology. At the end of the event, Christian Heinrich (Open Industrie 4.0 Alliance) gave an outlook on the upcoming AAS Hackathon. Interested participants had the option of joining a guided tour of ARENA2036.
The organizers would like to thank all participants for their valuable contributions and look forward to the next edition of the expert network meeting. We look back on a successful event and are excited about the upcoming developments around the Asset Administration Shell in the coming months!