Mr. Koschnick, could you briefly describe the aim of the digital nameplate 4.0 project, which is intended, among other things, to demonstrate the feasibility of the administration shell?

Koschnick: We have defined four project objectives:

1. to make relevant information on operating resources available in digital form, in full, in any language, at any time, internet-based, in order to increase service quality.

2. the prospective abolition or reduction of product-related paper documentation - i.e. manuals, certificates, etc. - in order to save resources

3. use of the Industry 4.0 administration shell to enable opportunities for new data-driven business models

4. to demonstrate to EU policy makers
that the Low Voltage and Machinery Directives need to be adapted.

The project has now been running for a good year and a half - how far has the work progressed?

Koschnick: After just under a year of work, we presented a demonstrator at the SPS trade fair in Nuremberg, which met with great interest. We had planned to present a further development at Hannover Messe 2020, but unfortunately this year's event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is particularly regrettable because we would have been able to present our concerns directly to the political players at the demonstrator in Hanover.

Nevertheless, the standardization of the submodels used in the demonstrator is progressing well. We are gaining companies that want to participate in the demonstrator on an almost weekly basis. The political work to advance the adaptation of the guidelines has started and is being well received. In summary, we can say that we are making very good progress.

What are or were the biggest challenges that you perhaps didn't anticipate?

Koschnick: Standardizing the basic properties of products is certainly always a challenge, as there are many good and differing ideas about what is right. In the case of the digital type plate, we were actually surprised by how many good approaches have already been advanced in some cases. We had a bit of a headache trying to reconcile these initiatives and approaches, but fortunately we succeeded.

What are the current challenges?

Koschnick: The current challenge is to bring the idea that product-related information can be provided digitally in a simpler and more needs-oriented way into the political arena. This means that not only a PDF is to be made available for download, but that with the administration shell we want to provide a quasi open source digital twin for the industry, which offers many more possibilities in addition to the provision of information over the entire life cycle. With the help of the asset administration shell, comprehensive interoperability is possible. Small and medium-sized companies in particular can benefit from this, as they can build data-driven business models more easily.

What does the future roadmap look like?

Koschnick: As already mentioned, we have already presented demonstrable results. The question at the moment is when we will be able to show these again... In addition, we are of course continuing to make progress with standardization in order to give companies investment security. We are standardizing the models of the digital type plate, rolling this out further in the industry and transporting our political message to Berlin and Brussels through many channels.

ZVEI