From Supply Chain Data to Digital Twins: A GS1–AAS Interoperability Bridge

Value-added chains in manufacturing build on the progressive aggregation of complexity: raw materials and simple components are procured, assembled, or further processed into increasingly sophisticated systems. This pattern repeats across all higher tiers of a value chain, such as in railcar construction, the automotive supply industry, or machinery manufacturing.

The same aggregation of complexity appears in the corresponding information flows. Lower-tier suppliers—often SMEs—wish to share the data they collect with their downstream B2B customers. However, these suppliers typically use simpler, web-technology-based data formats such as JSON-LD and web vocabularies (e.g., schema.org, GS1 WebVocabulary), while higher-tier manufacturing environments rely on significantly more complex Asset Administration Shell (AAS) formats.

To bridge this gap, the project aims to develop a lightweight, one-directional converter (JavaScript-based and web-enabled) that transforms GS1-based JSON-LD data into higher-complexity AAS representations. This will enable lower-tier supply chain actors to seamlessly integrate their data into digital-twin ecosystems used in advanced manufacturing. The converter will be published as open-source software, providing a foundational “stem cell” for future industrial solutions that connect low- and high-complexity supply chain partners.

In essence, the project delivers a tool that takes GS1 WebVocabulary JSON-LD as input, prompts the user to supply any additional data needed for creating the richer AAS structure, and then outputs a compliant AAS file. This creates a practical interoperability bridge, supporting standardized, cross-domain data exchange across the entire value chain.