An Asset Administration Shell Method for Data Exchange Between Manufacturing Software Applications

Xun Ye,Won Seok Song,Seung Ho Hong,Mengmeng Yu

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3122175

Xun Ye, Won Seok Song + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2021.3122175

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Abstract

The multifaceted industrial application of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) has increased, enabling tight interactions between physical and computational elements. Industry 4.0 aims to promote industrial application of CPSs. The asset administration shell (AAS) represents the practical embodiment of the CPS, and can be obtained by integrating information and communication technologies. Most prior studies concentrated on AASs for hardware assets in the manufacturing domain; they seldom considered AASs for software applications. To fill this gap, we present a method for implementing AASs for software, i.e., a manufacturing execution system (MES) combined with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This method allows runtime data exchange between an MES and ERP; this is better than the conventional file-based method. Finally, a data exchange case (a manufacturing order) is presented to validate our AAS method.

Highlights

The Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems (CPSs) have emerged as key technologies meeting various user and application requirements of the era of the fourth industrial revolution, termed Industry 4.0 [1, 2]
An asset with a proprietary communication interface (e.g., PROFIBUS) is linked to a uniform application programming interface (API), through which the asset data can be accessed in the form of an administration shell (AAS); AASs work together to capture key information pertaining to assets, enabling straightforward interaction over standardized communication interfaces with other Industry 4.0 components
1) AutomationML for AAS data modeling We developed AAS models for manufacturing execution system (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) using the method of AutomationML for International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 62264, because AutomationML provides a visual editing tool for modeling the AAS information

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems (CPSs) have emerged as key technologies meeting various user and application requirements of the era of the fourth industrial revolution, termed Industry 4.0 [1, 2]. As defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 65 Working Group 24, an AAS is a standardized digital representation of an asset with industrial applications, allowing uniform access to information and functions and thereby facilitating interoperability among the applications of a manufacturing company [8]. An AAS helps transform raw data from physical assets into digitally comprehensible information for stakeholders (domain experts and system developers). An asset with a proprietary communication interface (e.g., PROFIBUS) is linked to a uniform application programming interface (API), through which the asset data can be accessed in the form of an AAS; AASs work together to capture key information pertaining to assets (i.e., their intrinsic properties, operational parameters, and technical functionalities), enabling straightforward interaction over standardized communication interfaces with other Industry 4.0 components.

DATA EXCHANGE MODELS FOR ENTERPRISE AND CONTROL SYSTEMS

AN AAS METHOD FOR MES AND ERP DATA EXCHANGE

DATA EXCHANGE SCENARIO

IMPLEMENTATION

DATA EXCHANGE RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK