Asset Administration shell (AAS) & digital twin

From innovation project to industrial reality: the asset administration shell is the foundation for standardized, interoperable data and digital twins in the digital transformation.
With the mandatory digital product passport – already in force for batteries since September 2025 – the pressure to provide standardized information is increasing significantly. It is already clear today that many other areas will follow in the coming years.
The key question is therefore not whether companies need an asset administration shell. Rather, it is about how it can be hosted in a secure, legally compliant and highly available manner. This is precisely where PFALZKOM kicks in.

Send an inquiry now!

AAS and digital twin in interaction

The asset administration shell (AAS for short) is the standardized digital shell of an asset. It structures all relevant information across the entire life cycle – from master data and documents to machine functions, components and services – in a standardized, machine-readable model.

The digital twin uses this structure. It is the continuously updated, usable image of an asset – dynamic, analyzable and available in real time.

Asset Administration Shell

The AAS is the digital identity card – as a central interface for interoperable data exchange between machines and IT systems.

Digital twin

The digital twin is the image of an asset – as a real-time representation of states and events.

Data Center with central key function

Asset administration shells and digital twins are not isolated applications. They consist of repositories, registries, discovery services and platform services that need to be permanently available, performant and secure.

Networked AAS ecosystems and data rooms in particular give rise to a new level of complexity: multiple partners access structured asset data, dynamic information is synchronized and access rights are orchestrated.

For this to work in a scalable way,
the following is required during operation:

  • Highly available compute, storage and network resources
  • Secure, GDPR-compliant data storage
  • Multi-client capable and interoperable operating environments
  • Resilient performance even with a growing number of assets
  • A suitable hosting environment for BaSyx (AAS)

The Data Center thus becomes the operating room of the asset administration shell. It provides the infrastructure on which AAS platforms, registries and data rooms run productively – stable, scalable and trustworthy.

PFALZKOM supplies the ready-made, scalable infrastructure for AAS services and digital twins. This means for you:

  • Quick start without own hardware investments
  • Professional operation instead of a pilot environment
  • Future-proof further development in line with European regulations
  • Technical basis for sovereign data rooms

AAS: Duty meets practice

As an international standard for digital twins, the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) structures asset data across the entire life cycle: as a data model, it synchronizes all static and dynamic information. It connects real assets with IT systems – across multiple platforms, interoperably and in real time.

The Asset Administration Shell as the decisive basis for:

  • Digital product passport
  • Predictive maintenance
  • Lifecycle management
  • Automated processes
  • Industry 4.0 applications
  • Documentation
It is estimated that 5 to 6 billion products will receive a digital product passport every year – and that this will then also be mandatory.
Launched for the battery sector in 2025, the Digital Product Passport is set to become mandatory for prioritized product groups from 2027 and is expected to cover the entire EU market by 2030.
If products do not meet the requirements of the Digital Product Passport, there is a risk of high annual sales losses due to rejected exports.

The real challenge: hosting

Setting up the asset administration shell is not a problem for many companies. The real hurdle is the secure and highly available operation of the international standard. Because that is exactly what is needed:

  • Stable infrastructure
  • Real-time access to dynamic data
  • Synchronized data flows
  • Role and rights concepts
  • Legally compliant data storage
  • Scaling without additional IT effort

PFALZKOM as an infrastructure partner for stable AAS systems

We do not model asset administration shells. We ensure that they run reliably. As a Data Center operator with many years of hosting expertise and a cloud provider, we create the conditions for secure and scalable operation of the asset administration shell. PFALZKOM is an accredited Gaia-X Digital Clearing House and supports companies in the implementation of Gaia-X-compliant data rooms. We also offer solutions for decentralized identities (DID) to map trustworthy identity and access models within data ecosystems. The experience gained from our partnership with Smart Factory Kaiserslautern and the project Twin4Trucks is valuable for every customer.

Gaia-X data rooms

Setting up and operating Gaia-X-compliant data rooms – with certified infrastructure and clear governance structures.

Gaia-X at PFALZKOM

Decentralized identifiers (DID)

Trusted identities for machines, services and companies – the basis for secure industrial data ecosystems.

DID solutions
Fast access

We take care of installation and connectivity.

Ready for Access

We orchestrate the necessary licenses and certificates.

Security

We guarantee fail-safe high availability and cyber security.

Find out how we – as Gaia-X Digital Clearing House – ensure complete transparency and sovereign infrastructures.

PFALZKOM as Gaia-X Digital Clearing House

Our service: Stability and
availability even with high complexity

Move asset administration shells and digital twins to our Regional Edge Cloud. This creates the basis for scalable, secure real-time access. Your asset data is provided centrally, with high availability and synchronization - and can still be flexibly integrated across industrial edge environments. True to the motto “in the best hands”, we are the secure home for your data!

TWIN4TRUCKS

Digital sovereignty in the commercial vehicle sector requires an infrastructure that can reliably operate data rooms. Together with partners such as Daimler Truck and DFKI, GXDCH by PFALZKOM is being used for the first time - as the basis for networked, secure data rooms in an industrial environment and as a platform for operating asset administration shells and digital twins in the Regional Edge Cloud.

Learn more

What does that mean in concrete terms?

Synchronized data flows

e.g. logistics or status data in real time

Unchangeable identities

Unique IDs remain static and audit-proof

Consistent database

correctly available for thousands of assets at all times

Role-based access

for specific viewing, checking and updating at user level

Scalability

Stable infrastructure even with a growing asset portfolio

The digital twin thus becomes a reliable authority: all synchronizations are controlled and can be viewed at any time and used according to role and authorization.

The digital product passport is created on this basis - with static core information and dynamic, continuously updated data such as maintenance or status information.

To our references