Using PLM Data for AAS

An initiative by KEM and Industrie-Digitalisierung.com

The benefits of using Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) can be significantly enhanced for users when product data from the systems is automatically made available in the open data standard Asset Administration Shell (AAS). KEM and Industrie-Digitalisierung are asking providers for their views on this.

Regulations will soon take effect in Europe and Germany that require the manufacturing industry, in particular, to take additional proactive measures regarding their product data. Examples include the Digital Product Passport, the Battery Passport, and the “Regulation on harmonized rules for fair data access and use,” known as the EU Data Act, whose transition period ends in September 2026.

Existing laws and regulations must already be complied with for product change notifications and product discontinuations.

Companies that currently use one of the commercially available PLM systems—such as those from Aras, Contact Software, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, SAP, or Siemens—can access the relevant data for every product, part, and component and make it available in a compliant manner. This is a major advantage over companies that do not yet have Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) in place for their product data.

The Industry 4.0 Platform has established the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) as an open data standard. It can now be used as a digital interface for any interactions within the industrial value chain. For example, it can serve as the format for the digital product passport or for the Product Change Notification (PCN).

Currently, however, each company must ensure on its own that the required data is made available in the appropriate format. PLM users have the advantage that they can already access their data centrally. But even they must populate the AAS with data individually for each component if they wish to use this format.

PLM providers can offer their customers a currently urgently needed and highly valuable service: automated storage of the data required for the respective AAS submodels directly from the PLM databases.

KEM and the news portal Industrie-Digitalisierung are conducting a survey whose results will reflect the current state of AAS support provided by PLM providers. All of the aforementioned PLM providers have been contacted. The results will be published in the middle of the year.