Data spaces and data ecosystems are considered major building blocks of the digital, European economy. Throughout Europe, several initiatives are working on technologies, concepts and use cases, e.g. Gaia-X, the IDSA or iShare, to name a few. The European Commission (EC) itself also plays an active role. For instance, the EC is working on the Simpl Programme or providing funding for Common European Data Spaces. In manufacturing, the projects UNDERPIN and SM4RTENANCE are working on the implementation of data spaces.

In the SM4RTENANCE project, the Austrian Platform Industry 4.0 is a project partner. We are supporting the Austrian use cases – focusing on predictive maintenance for milling machines and improving the health and performance of (e)-vehicles. Apart from that, we are a dissemination partner, and we provide our knowhow on projects, technologies and stakeholders in the field of data spaces etc.

In this role, we recently visited the “1^st Scale-MX Congress” in Munich. The event focused on the different data space and data ecosystem projects in Germany with a special focus on Manufacturing-X. While most Manufacturing-X projects are currently driven by German companies, international activities are gaining traction. Therefore, we visited the event to find potential areas of cooperation and to gather insights for the SM4RTENANCE project.

A diverse project landscape

Different projects are considered part of Manufacturing-X. Many of them are supported by the German Manufacturing-X funding scheme, e.g. the projects Factory-X, Aerospace-X  or Chem-X. Some projects, like the RoX project, are part of the 8ra Initiative, an “Important Project of Common European Interest” in the area of cloud computing and edge computing. Other projects are being implemented without public funding, like the Process-X project in the chemical industry.

While partners and technologies used differ, all Manufacturing-X projects are working towards more decentralized and open data ecosystems. For instance, Cofinity-X – the operating company of Catena-X which is often considered the blueprint for Manufacturing-X projects – is currently working on a decentralized solution for certificate management. In parallel, the Factory-X project is working on the exchange of asset information from different parties without a central gatekeeper.

What motivates businesses to get involved

Business opportunities are seen as a key driver for the spread of data ecosystems. Companies that have already been working on their own digital transformation are reaching the limits of efficiency gains within their organizations – and are aiming to increase productivity by cross-company collaboration. For instance, the Decide4ECO project is working on improving product design and engineering within a supply chain. Within Process-X, chemical manufacturers aim to reduce their energy costs through optimizing their energy demand forecasts. Apart from that, reducing the costs of recalls and providing product-specific services through better traceability is another motivator for companies to engage in Manufacturing-X projects, e.g. for BMW (Catena-X) or Intel (Semiconductor-X).

The drive towards industry standardization is also an accelerant for data spaces. Cost reduction through sector specific standardization is a goal for many companies. For instance, the German Toolcraft AG is manufacturing components for the airline industry and part of Aerospace-X. Their customers have their very own supplier portals, software stacks or APIs – maintaining and integrating them costs money and resources. Standardized data spaces could solve that problem. Another example comes from BASF, which is working on reducing the costs for organizing documents and information search through standardization within the Factory-X project.

Furthermore, regulation is considered another driver for data space adoption. The EU Data Act will become applicable on September 12 this year and will mandate the accessibility of industrial data. According to bayern innovativ, the organizer of the event, 80% of which is not used today.

Differences in technological building blocks

As of now, there are no fixed technological modules for building a data ecosystem within Manufacturing-X. However, some building blocks are expected to be part of most projects. Those include the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), OPC UA, the Eclipse Dataspace Components (EDC) and Tractus-X. Within Factory-X, companies are working on the “Factory-X Kernel”, which should safeguard interoperability of the different projects and build on the components mentioned.

Different technological components are available for different use cases. While flagship projects like Catena-X and Factory-X might use the EDC for sharing data, the solution is often considered complicated for proofs-of-concept or small use cases. For instance, the project AAS Dataspace for Everybody is working with the AAS and Eclipse BaSyx as the foundation for a data space and for first steps. Interested companies and parties can use a data space as a service which is run by Fraunhofer IESE. As an example, the German Furniture-X project is working with this solution. Another approach was chosen by the Antrieb 4.0 project. The project is working on the interoperability of drive systems and combines OPC UA and the AAS with the technology of the Solid initiative.

The integration of existing technologies into data spaces is a priority for many companies. On the one hand, companies like BASF are directly connecting their plants and manufacturing technologies with data spaces. On the other hand, initiatives like umati are demonstrating the practical usage of their technologies for data spaces.

The willingness to cooperate

Many projects and companies are willing to cooperate with other initiatives and institutions. Most Manufacturing-X projects are offering the possibility to join use cases as associated partners. Mature endeavors like Catena-X/Cofinity-X are aiming for international expansion and are actively encouraging the usage of their platforms and services.

The event was organized as part of the Scale-MX project. Scale-MX itself is a funded transfer initiative for Manufacturing-X projects. More congresses like the first one will follow.

Foto von Andrey Omelyanchuk auf Unsplash