PLM/ALM Integration With The Asset Administration Shell
Andreas Deuter, Sebastian Imort
Abstract
Modern product development utilizes both Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). PLM addresses the hardware lifecycle of a product, whereas ALM addresses the software lifecycle. In recent years, industry and academia have developed several PLM/ALM integration concepts to realize efficient management of the product lifecycle across all domains. However, the solutions available in practice are typically vendor-driven. Therefore, they are not generally applicable even if standards such as OSLC (Open Services for Lifecycle Cooperation) are applied. The consortium "Plattform Industrie 4.0" has recently introduced a standardized digital representation of an asset (e.g., a smart product): the Asset Administration Shell (AAS). The AAS has the potential to integrate PLM/ALM data sets in a single product model and hence to provide a generally applicable interface for PLM/ALM integration. However, until now there has not been a concept to prove this potential. The aim of this work is to develop such new strategies (named Plm4AAS) using AAS submodels. This article explains the semi-automatic generation of PLM/ALM submodels and how to link elements between these submodels. The AASX Package Explorer, an AAS management software tool, is used to demonstrate the results. The article finishes with a discussion about the potential of the AAS as a standardized concept for PLM/ALM integration.