The Industry 4.0 networking solution IndustryFusion-X (IF-X) enables interoperable access to data in heterogeneous industrial production environments through standardized formats and infrastructure. Each asset is represented in the data space by a so-called Process Data Twin (PDT), which was developed by the IndustryFusion Foundation in collaboration with Intel - this enables interoperable networking of different production facilities in the value chain, making them quasi "communicative".
The technical basis of IF-X is completely open source: it is based on the IndustryFusion Foundation's data space project and is extended by Eclipse EDC. The Process Data Twins are defined semantically using an RDF model and validated using SHACL, ensuring data integrity even in complex, large-scale factory environments. The networking and monitoring of connected factories is done using the NGSI-LD model.
As a result, IndustryFusion-X creates a new, standardized data space that enables cross-manufacturer networking of all assets in industrial production. The opportunities enabled by such a solution are diverse and have the potential to revolutionize traditional industrial value chains:
IndustryFusion-X enables the recognition of optimization potential in production by creating transparency, structuring and semantically preparing unstructured data from production machines (shop floor) and, for example, processing and analyzing it using AI.
Furthermore, new horizontal value creation networks such as cloud manufacturing and production and resource sharing are enabled.
Standardized data spaces allow providers of industrial application software to make their products available to various end users in a scalable manner.
In addition, IF-X is based on a standardized and transparent infrastructure that can be set up largely independently of the user's further IT infrastructure - and this applies to all software and hardware components. As a result, IF-X can be implemented particularly easily and cost-effectively. This saves time and costs, and hardly any know-how or specialized personnel is required from the user.