Gaia-X Initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research investigates solution approaches for trustworthy data exchange in industry
Wedel, Jan 18, 2023 – How can Gaia-X applications be used in modern value chains of the Industrial Internet of Things? This question is being investigated by a project consortium with partners from industry, information technology and science. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, three use cases will pave the way for trusted supply chains and predictive maintenance in industry. One technical component of the project is the Stackable Data Platform.
In the manufacturing industry and in mechanical engineering, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the industrial manifestation of the Internet of Things (IoT), is becoming increasingly important. As part of the funding measure “Industry 4.0 – Gaia-X Applications in Value-Added Networks (InGAIA-X)” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, four project consortia are investigating how the large European cloud initiative Gaia-X can support complex value-added networks in manufacturing industry. Challenges faced by this industry include cost-intensive machine downtime and manual process costs along supply chains, for example, caused by reaction-driven maintenance and non-transparent replacement procurement of machine parts. The goal of the COSMIC-X project is to optimize maintenance processes, automate spare parts procurement within the industry and intelligently digitize supply chains by using the Gaia-X Industrial Data Space (IDS) and providing Advanced Smart Services (ASS). The project consortium is made up of technology experts including Stackable, Datarella GmbH and inovex GmbH, industrial users Schwäbische Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, HAWE Hydraulik SE and Krohne Innovation GmbH, and the University of Stuttgart – ISW and Furtwangen University – IDACUS as scientific partners.
Stackable Data Platform as the Core of the Solution Application
A previous project has already developed a solution for cross-company networking of production and process data, which together with the evolving standards for Gaia-X Data Spaces form the basis for this project. Together with the industry partners, use cases on digital twins, trusted supply chains and platform-based maintenance are now being considered, which focus on the topic of “trusted data exchange”. In various demonstrators, for example, the use of digital twins of machines is tested. These provide data that is analyzed by intelligent algorithms for predictive maintenance, while preserving the data sovereignty of machine operators through federated learning. Mutual trust between contractual partners in data exchange and use is ensured by Gaia-X concepts or blockchain technologies. A maintenance call is scheduled early and proactively and automated spare parts procurement is triggered exactly when the corresponding component is needed. This can massively shorten the procurement process and make it transparent for all parties involved. Stackable provides the data platform for edge and cloud applications that collects and analyzes the data relevant to the process.
Goal: Enhanced Data Platform to Support Predictive Maintenance
With a planned runtime of two years, COSMIC-X has already started in October 2022. The target group of the application are machine tool manufacturers, suppliers and machine operators. “This project is not only highly exciting in the field of Industrie 4.0, but also offers us as Stackable the unique opportunity to test our pioneering data platform in a challenging environment and to optimize and expand it to meet specific challenges,” explains Stefan Igel, COO of Stackable. “We are convinced that we can make a significant contribution to the success of COSMIC-X and look forward to working with the project partners,” said Igel.
The Stackable Data Platform is a packaged distribution of various established open source software components for the management and analysis of data of diverse origin, structure and quantity. The Stackable Data Platform can be operated in various public clouds as well as in the company’s own data centers, making it particularly suitable for use in hybrid architectures in the edge-cloud continuum, such as those planned for COSMIC-X. (I)Iot and AI/ML applications represent key application areas for the platform, which is why the project’s core target group, mechanical engineering and manufacturing, are important target industries for the company. In this project, Stackable aims to understand in detail the requirements of these industries for data platforms and develop prototypes that implement those very requirements. “But collaboration under the Gaia-X umbrella is also an important aspect for us,” adds Igel. “We want to further develop the components and services of our products so that they integrate seamlessly into Gaia-X compliant environments, enabling the building of Gaia-X compliant Data Spaces.”
Contact for Information:
Stefan Igel, COO
stefan.igel@stackable.tech
About Stackable
Stackable believes the future of software development is open source. That’s why the company has made it its mission to make it as easy as possible to build and operate scalable open source infrastructures for Big Data, event streaming, machine learning (ML) and AI with open source products. Modern DevOps concepts, such as a consistent infrastructure-as-code approach, enable companies of all sizes to easily integrate and manage their data platforms into their respective IT infrastructure – whether in their own data center or in the cloud. The Stackable Data Platform avoids vendor and cloud lock-in, promoting enterprise flexibility and data sovereignty. Founded in 2020 out of community spirit, Stackable provides its platform as an open source product with freely available source code and a commercial service and support offering.