Asset administration shell maturity model helps compare digital twin data
Towards an Asset Administration Shell Maturity Model
Software Engineering
Summary
It is hard to compare different digital twins of machines because there are no clear standards for measuring how complete or advanced they are. The authors propose a new maturity model that shows how well digital twins meet certain criteria. This model helps people working with digital twins to compare them and figure out how to improve their designs. They tested their ideas with examples to show how the model works. This approach makes developing and improving digital twins more systematic.
What this means in practice
- •For manufacturing system engineers: Evaluate and compare digital twin implementations to identify areas for improvement in asset data management.
- •For industrial automation integrators: Assess AAS maturity levels to standardize data exchange between machines and improve interoperability.
Authors
Carsten Ellwein, David Dietrich, Rozana Cvitkovic, Andreas Wortmann
Abstract
The Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is increasingly recognized as a fundamental model for the realization of and data exchange between digital twins in manufacturing. An AAS defines a hierarchical data structure to represent any type of asset throughout its entire lifecycle. In the context of AAS-based systems, comparing different AAS instances constitutes a practical challenge, as neither a widely accepted methodological framework nor a maturity model are available to systematically support such analyses. To address this gap, we propose a novel concept of AAS maturity that characterizes the extent to which established digital twin criteria are met and thus enabling comparability of AAS instances. The concepts are derived from the literature and applied through exemplification. These emerging results enable practitioners and researchers to systematically compare AAS instances and support the identification and assessment of further development steps in the digital twin engineering process.