Asset Administration Shell for the Wiring Harness System

Abstract

AbstractThe wiring harness is one of the most expensive components of the automobile. It is still a custom-made product despite the high-volume production in the automotive industry. However, various trends, such as increasing fragility of supply chains and functional safety demands for autonomous driving are demanding the automation of the value creation processes. But in mass customisation, automation needs the digitalisation of all information flows. Machines and processes must be able to automatically gather all required information. In the wiring harness industry, much of the information has been geared toward processing by humans and has hardly been digitised at all. One of the foundations for Industry 4.0-oriented automation is ergo the existence of complete digital information of each wiring harness. A digital twin of the wiring harness is required. The Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is the technical concept for transparently interoperating with the digital twin. The project “Asset Administration Shell for the Wiring Harness” or in German (Verwaltungsschale für den Leitungssatz - VWS4LS) creates the first complete digital description of the wiring harness based on the AAS. As a result, all actors in the value network can access complete and consistent data (“single point of truth”), enrich it, and control its application through authorisations. To achieve this goal, a consortium from all levels of the value network was assembled for VWS4LS starting with the OEM, through the suppliers at the various levels of the value chain, and to the software suppliers and machine manufacturers. This publication presents the project and its initial results.