Secure Asset Administration Shell exchange with Distributed Ledger Technology

Abstract

Advancing digitalization, increasing networking and horizontal integration in logistics, production and operation of machines and products are leading to the transformation of classic value chains into interconnected value networks in which partners can seamlessly find and exchange relevant information. Machines, products, and processes receive their digital twins, which represent all relevant aspects of the physical world in the information world. The Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is a standardized industrial interpretation of a digital twin proposed by the Plattform Industrie 4.0 and the Industrial Digital Twin Association. All life cycle data about an asset, means a physical or logical thing that holds a value for the owning organization, is stored in this digital twin. For a secure and trustworthy exchange of data contained in AASs among the cross-company value- and supply chain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) as a common backbone containing data transactions between value network partners will be proposed in this work. In this context, DLT is considered as a trusted layer, i.e. a technology for implementing a trustworthy, decentralized communication infrastructure. From the authors' point of view, DLT provides the necessary characteristics to become a standard technology and basis for shaping open globally secure Industrie 4.0 ecosystems.
The paper provides an overview about the current state of research for the exchange of the content of AASs and an overview about the requirements for a common infrastructure to archive a wide adoption in the manufacturing industry and global supply chains and how those requirements can be fulfilled by the unique features provided by DLT.

Full text

Shaping a globally secure Industrie 4.0 Ecosystem
Secure Asset Administration Shell exchange
with Distributed Ledger Technology
Andre Bröring, andre.broering@th-owl.de, Institut für industrielle Informationstechnik – inIT, Technische
Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Campusallee 6, 32657 Lemgo
Alexander Belyaev, alexander.belyaev@ovgu.de, Institut für Automatisierungstechnik, Otto-von-Guericke-
Universität Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg
Henning Trsek, henning.trsek@th-owl.de, Institut für industrielle Informationstechnik – inIT, Technische
Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Campusallee 6, 32657 Lemgo
Lukasz Wisniewski, lukasz.wisniewski@th-owl.de, Institut für industrielle Informationstechnik – inIT, Tech-
nische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Campusallee 6, 32657 Lemgo
Christian Diedrich, christian.diedrich@ifak.eu, ifak - Institut für Automation und Kommunikation e.V., Wer-ner-
Heisenberg-Straße 1, 39106 Magdeburg
Abstract
Advancing digitalization, increasing networking and horizontal integration in logistics, production and operation of
machines and products are leading to the transformation of classic value chains into interconnected value networks
in which partners can seamlessly find and exchange relevant information. Machines, products, and processes receive
their digital twins, which represent all relevant aspects of the physical world in the information world. The Asset
Administration Shell (AAS) is a standardized industrial interpretation of a digital twin proposed by the Plattform
Industrie 4.0 and the Industrial Digital Twin Association. All life cycle data about an asset, means a physical or logical
thing that holds a value for the owning organization, is stored in this digital twin. For a secure and trustworthy
exchange of data contained in AASs among the cross-company value- and supply chain, Distributed Ledger
Technology (DLT) as a common backbone containing data transactions between value network partners will be
proposed in this work. In this context, DLT is considered as a trusted layer, i.e. a technology for implementing a
trustworthy, decentralized communication infrastructure. From the authors' point of view, DLT provides the necessary
characteristics to become a standard technology and basis for shaping open globally secure Industrie 4.0
ecosystems.
The paper provides an overview about the current state of research for the exchange of the content of AASs and an
overview about the requirements for a common infrastructure to archive a wide adoption in the manufacturing industry
and global supply chains and how those requirements can be fulfilled by the unique features provided by DLT.
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