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Automating Digital Product Data with AAS — Get Rid of “?” Data

The Chal­lenge
We Tackled

Providing digital product data in a consis­tent and reusable way remains a major chal­lenge across the automa­tion industry. Product infor­ma­tion is often locked in cata­logs, PDFs or propri­etary systems, making it diffi­cult for machine builders, oper­a­tors and soft­ware tools to access and use it effi­ciently. The project set out to auto­mate the creation and provi­sioning of stan­dard­ized Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells for thou­sands of prod­ucts and to inte­grate them directly into common engi­neering and oper­a­tions envi­ron­ments. The goal was to make digital product data avail­able instantly and in a form that can be used seam­lessly across company and system bound­aries.

Partic­i­pating
Members

Why this project
matters and for who

The project demon­strates how stan­dard­ized Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells can turn static product infor­ma­tion into a connected, reusable digital asset that drives collab­o­ra­tion and effi­ciency across the entire indus­trial value chain.

Reli­able and machine-read­able product data is becoming essen­tial for effi­cient engi­neering and oper­a­tion. This project shows how stan­dard­ized Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells can make that data acces­sible auto­mat­i­cally, reducing manual effort and elim­i­nating redun­dant work.

For engi­neering, procure­ment and construc­tion compa­nies, OEMs and oper­a­tors, the results enable collab­o­ra­tion across the entire life­cycle — from design and build to oper­a­tion and opti­miza­tion. Stan­dard­ized AAS inter­faces simplify inte­gra­tion into existing PLM tools, and make product data directly usable for engi­neering, simu­la­tion and virtual commis­sioning.

By creating and providing AAS at scale, the partic­i­pating compa­nies have built a foun­da­tion for inter­op­er­ability and shared progress. What was once isolated product infor­ma­tion becomes a living digital asset that connects engi­neering and oper­a­tions, strengthens part­ner­ships and accel­er­ates digital trans­for­ma­tion across the industry.

What we’ve
achieved

The project success­fully demon­strated how stan­dard­ized Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells can be created, provi­sioned, and used at scale. Together, automa­tion suppliers, soft­ware providers, and end users estab­lished a shared approach for making digital product data acces­sible across tools and orga­ni­za­tions. The work vali­dated inter­op­er­ability between systems, defined best prac­tices for large-scale AAS manage­ment, and proved the concept in real indus­trial use cases. The results now serve as a blue­print for future AAS imple­men­ta­tions across the industry.

 

  • More than 20,000 Festo prod­ucts avail­able as Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells
  • Auto­matic provi­sioning of AAS through the “Digital Twin Factory” pipeline

  • Inte­gra­tion tests with leading tool provider compa­nies such as Siemens, SAP, PTC and CONTACT Soft­ware ongoing

  • Inter­op­er­ability vali­dated across multiple engi­neering systems

  • Estab­lished best prac­tices for large-scale AAS creation and main­te­nance
  • Open-source infra­struc­ture for browsing, storage and stan­dard­ized APIs
  • Knowl­edge shared within the OI4 commu­nity to support further adop­tion

#Better
together

This project is the result of open collab­o­ra­tion between manu­fac­turers, soft­ware providers and users who share one goal: making digital product data usable across tools and compa­nies. The outcome is not a closed system but a foun­da­tion the entire commu­nity can build on.

The proto­typ­ical AAS repos­i­tory is publicly acces­sible at basyx.festo.com. Compa­nies can explore existing Asset Admin­is­tra­tion Shells, connect their own tools and contribute their expe­ri­ence. The more partic­i­pants join, the faster stan­dard­ized digital engi­neering becomes reality.

Sounds like smth you would like to achieve but struggle how to even start? We got you.

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