This paper investigates the design of a digital product passport (DPP) model based on the asset administration shell (AAS) framework to support the circular economy while ensuring cross-industry applicability. In a circular economy, resources are continuously reused, fostering more sustainable manufacturing. The European Commission’s initiatives target this issue, with the DPP playing a critical role in sharing product sustainability information, such as product composition and repairability, throughout its lifecycle. However, a widely applicable DPP approach has yet to be established. This study consolidates existing standards, and scientific literature to develop a data model that aligns with circular economy principles. Using the AAS framework initially developed by the Plattform Industrie 4.0, we mapped the data requirements to submodel templates and addressed gaps in the data needed for real-life implementation. The results demonstrate that the proposed DPP data model is specific enough for practical use cases, such as the upcoming EU battery passport, while remaining flexible enough for application across various industries. The AAS framework’s adaptability and comprehensive data exchange capabilities make it a suitable foundation for developing DPPs that support the transition to a circular economy.

The use of open-source software is crucial for the digitalization of manufacturing, including the implementation of Digital Twins as envisioned in Industry 4.0. This research paper provides a comprehensive comparison of free and open-source implementations of the reactive Asset Administration Shell (AAS) for creating Digital Twins. A structured search on GitHub and Google Scholar was conducted, leading to the selection of four implementations for detailed analysis. Objective evaluation criteria were defined, and a testing framework was created to test support for the most common AAS model elements and API calls. The results show that all implementations support at least a minimal set of required features while none implement the specification in all details, which highlights the challenges of implementing the AAS specification and the incompatibility between different implementations. This paper is therefore the first attempt at a comprehensive comparison of AAS implementations and identifies potential areas for improvement in future implementations. It also provides valuable insights for software developers and researchers in the field of AAS-based Digital Twins.

This paper proposes to combine the concept of digital twins with the concept of dataspaces to fulfill the original expectation that a digital twin is a comprehensive virtual representation of physical assets. Based upon a terminological and conceptual discussion of digital twins and dataspaces, this paper claims that a systemic approach towards digital twin Systems is required. The key conceptual approach consists of a Reference Model for Digital Twin Systems (DTS-RM) and a hypothesis regarding a symbiotic evolution. The DTS-RM distinguishes between a digital twin back-end platform comprising the access and management of comprehensive digital twin instances and digital twin-related services, and digital twin front-end services that are tailored to the demands of applications and users. The main purpose of the back-end platform is to decouple the digital twin’s generation and management from the usage of the digital twin for applications.