New data spaces for Manufacturing-X

T-Systems and the German Mechanical and Plant Engineering Association (VDMA in German) are linking their data spaces. In this way, the partners show what a data ecosystem from the Manufacturing-X initiative could look like. The VDMA is contributing the data space of its umati initiative and T-Systems its Living Labs data space. T-Systems is responsible for the data exchange technology. umati provides the standardized production information of its approximately 300 partner companies. T-Systems’ Living Lab enables the development and testing of applications for analyzing and evaluating this data. In the future, this will provide companies with transparency regarding production information along their supply chains and generate added value. At the same time, the owners of the information always retain sovereignty over their data.

The goal of the collaboration is to drive forward both the implementation of data spaces and the implementation of the OPC Unified Architecture and the associated industry-specific standards (OPC UA Companion Specifications). “We want to get Manufacturing-X beating in the hearts of our companies: On the factory floor,” explained Henrik Schunk Vice President, VDMA e.V. and Managing Partner, SCHUNK GmbH. “With umati, we have already created a data space for standardized production data – our global language for production. This enables machines to directly exchange their data in Manufacturing-X across company boundaries without storing it centrally.”

“Data spaces are revolutionizing industry. Our initiative is among the first, and the market will really take off in 2023,” said Adel Al-Saleh, Deutsche Telekom Board of Management member and CEO of T-Systems. “T-Systems and VDMA are bringing together production data and applications on a large scale for the first time. Data spaces are both marketplace and factory. Data is exchanged and processed here. Apps independently obtain information, work with it and offer it again in marketplaces. In this way, we are opening the door to the industrialization of data.”

CT Bureau