Factory-X: Overcoming security challenges

AAS-based software and product updates

Abstract

The present contribution highlights the central role of the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) as a standardized, interoperable framework for supporting software and product changes throughout the entire lifecycle of complex industrial
plants. Against the backdrop of increasingly software-centric products and heterogeneous supply chains, the proposed approach addresses existing shortcomings of manual, manufacturer-specific information processes. Using the Factory-X project as an example, an AAS-based concept is presented for the automated notification and standardized provision of product and change information – particularly with regard to software updates – between manufacturers,
machine builders, and operators.