IOTA’s future in the supply chain and the activities of the Industrial IOTA Lab Aachen (IILA) Markus Follow Nov 22, 2018 · 7 min read

After publishing a first article about the activities of the WZL in Aachen and the cooperation with Grandcentrix in April this year, we would now like to provide a small update. In addition, we would like to explain the possibilities when using IOTA in the supply chain. First of all many thanks to Daniel Trauth, from whose great article we were allowed to use parts for our update: https://medium.com/industrial-iota-lab-aachen-wzl-of-rwth-aachen/manufacturing-economy-e541066889ee

A lot has happened since our last article. The Industrial IOTA Lab Aachen (IILA) was established in April 2018 as a joint project of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL of RWTH Aachen University and Senseering GmbH, a university spin-off. IILA is a community driven laboratory which offers students, lecturers, industry representatives and enthusiasts for research in artificial intelligence, machine economy, machine-to-machine communication, distributed ledger technologies (mainly IOTA), and the Industrial Internet of Things.

The IOTA Industrial Lab Aachen received $ 50,000 in funding from the IOTA ecosystem fund. It offers lecturers and students a chance to connect with industry representatives on artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine communication, machine economy, and distributed-ledger-based technologies. The laboratory is currently funded by RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

Current status of the WZL x GCX x IOTA Web-Front-end

Let us first see what developments there are in the WZL in Aachen in collaboration with grandcentrix GmbH (GCX). It was recently the complete payment process in a proof of concept (PoC) tested and we may show a video of it. The subject of this Proof of Concept is an industrial fineblanking machine type XFT 2500 speed from Feintool AG. The goal of this PoC is to extract production data of fineblanked components from the machine control in real time, secure data persistance through the tangle and retrieve proof of integrity via a web-based frontend. The frontend access gives full availability to the tangle network making it possible to check data integrity for each workpiece dataset. Micro-payments with IOTA are now accepted for each part produced following a pay-per-use model, transforming the front-end into a conceptual Data Marketplace.

Architecture of the WZL x GCX x IOTA payment system. Image: © WZL | Ashri Anggia & Semjon Becker

Scope of the Payment System (WZL x GCX x IOTA Web-Front-end)

The scope includes the following key points:

Users can only purchase one part data set per payment

Payments will be conducted with IOTA only

We use localstorage to save successful transactions in the browser

Purchased data sets will be preserved when users close their browser

Database stores the invoice and receipt of the payment address however these information is also available in Tangle network.

User payments will be done via Trinity wallet QR Code

Here we show the final PoC of WZL x GCX x IOTA Payment Process. It shows the compleate process. This video was created on 20.11.2018. Many thanks to Daniel Trauth and the WZL Aachen.

But now, let’s give an overview what IOTA can do in the industrial supply chain.

Overview of IOTA use-cases in manufacturing.

How does IOTA fit into WZL’s vision of the Internet of Production or the fourth Industrial Revolution in general? Is it a logical step to integrate DLT as part of 4th Industrial Revolution in integrating artificial intelligence approaches to cyber-physical systems? As of this moment IOTA is the most suitable option for the monetization of data transactions, or for a P2P network when they are capable to run as digital identity, immutable data and as a system of records. One can theorize IOTA as a handshake protocol and as an immutable ledger for the backbone of machine-to-machine transactions.

Business Layer

Nevertheless, the question whether DLTs are suitable for a business or an use case is not a trivial matters. Based on a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, six characteristics must be fulfilled for DLTs to be meaningfully integrated.

If the following conditions apply, then DLTs have a strong potential to help your business:

Multiple participants need views of common information, thus, they share a common data set

Multiple participants take actions that need to be recorded and change the data, thus, a decentralized update policy is needed

Participants need to trust that the actions that are recorded are valid, thus, they need some kind of a data verification platform

Removal of central authority record keeper intermediaries has the potential to reduce cost (e.g. fees) and complexity (e.g. multiple reconciliations)

Participants need to act on time, they work at time sensitive tasks, thus, reducing delays has business benefits (e.g. reduced settlement risk, enhanced liquidity)

Transactions created by different participants depend on each other

How to derive DLT use-case. Image: © WZL | Anton Shirobokov

Use-Case Layer

Based on the PwC characteristics we can define variety of use cases, all of them with a unique benefit. If we combine PwC characteristics and the technology stack of what IOTA is offering: immutability, identity, platform, system of record.

In addition to those technology stack, one is looking for Business cases that require the sharing of a common data set that is also updated together, whose entries must be verified, which increases the interaction of the participants, and leads to an acceleration of your business as well as enables streamlining. Thus resulting in many benefits in manufacturing such as: Asset sharing, M2M communication, Data marketplace, Distributed manufacturing, Supply chain tracking, Digital product memory, Verification of spare parts, Quality documentation.

Example: Supply Chain

Documented certificates of origin for an item can help to establish that the item has not been altered or forged, reproduced, stolen. Certificates of origin helps in assigning the work to a well-known artist, and a documented history can verify the proof of ownership. In manufacturing supply chains, there is currently a lack of trust and transparency along the up- and downstream. However, a digital twin shared by a DLT could ensure data integrity and enable secure audit trails. Thereby, a digital twin is a digital model of a real-life process, product, machine, or service with a unique immutable identity.

Fujitsu’s Proof of Concept. Image: © WZL | Anton Shirobokov

Example: Fujitsu’s Proof of concept

Fujitsu established a supply chain with two objectives. In one hand, a Component Audit Trail was implemented, i.e. only authentic components, that have past all manufacturing steps in the supposed order, were accepted and passed on by the robots.

This ensured a proof of authenticity and proof of provenance and data access from anywhere. While in the other hand, an Auditable Robot Lifecycle was established through immutable storage of sensor data in a MAM stream for the complete lifecycle of each robot and the monetisation of the recorded data.

Fineblanking with IOTA at the WZL in Aachen

Specifically, the WZL of RWTH Aachen University is currently working on the application of a fineblanking machine. In fineblanking, firstly the metal is decoiled from a sheet metal coil. Afterwards, the decoiled material is fed into a straightening system, where the sheet is flattened. A fineblanking press then processes the flattened material. Up to four parts a seconds are cut-out from the flattened material. Fineblanking is very suited for mass production of security-critical components, such as brake carriers. The goal is that all parts are identical. However, this is not the case, since uncertainties in the material, the process, or even the surrounding area result in different die-rolls and clean-cuts. However, since all parts have to be identical at the end, it requires expensive post-processing steps, which one ideally wants to avoid. Engineers have tried to describe these relationships in formulas of certain process parameters, but they contain constants that have to be determined experimentally. Therefore, the approach is to capture as much data as possible from the process and to combine physical-based and data-driven approaches for the first time in fineblanking.

The data is read directly from the machine, from additional self-attached force sensors, image and video feeds, material property sensor (a sheet is never uniform) or acoustics, vibration, temperature sensors. This leads to data rates of up to 10 Gbit / s (theoretical), of which the WZL wants to save as much data as possible in a first step. They have a server with plenty of power and memory in their machine so they can store that data and then manipulate it with machine learning methods. The aim is to find new correlations between individual measurement series and the perturbation parameters that are hidden in the formulas in the constants. The vision then sees a self-governing, ‘autonomous’ machine, which controls itself as in “autonomous driving” and optimizes the process.

We will continue to report on the enormous progress.

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FKMQEHIEOXZCQQVHRM9CPKTNGVWFHRUKHL9YCILYOYRTEAYZQAWWQFWUMWZZPADURGDAVJTWNOLMI9RMXCNZAOBIXZ

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Our vision: „The real IOTA revolution will take place when applications are realized that benefit the industry as well as investors, and when the broader population understands and accepts IOTA as well as recognizes benefits in their daily lives. We want to support this process as an independent group“

For more information, check out our sources:

[1] Manufacturing Economy, Daniel Trauth

[2] WZL x GCX x IOTA — Status Report 04 Daniel Trauth