PSS-Pass Moves from Architecture to Pilot Integration

The PSS-Pass project is moving from concept definition, architecture and early developments towards the integration and validation of its Digital Product Service System Passport environment in three industrial pilots.

Launched in October 2024 and coordinated by ATB Bremen, PSS-Pass extends the Digital Product Passport concept by incorporating information from services and changing lifecycle conditions. The objective is to provide a more complete basis for decisions about maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, recycling and environmental performance supporting the circular economy.

The project has now established several of the technical foundations required for this approach. Public results include an initial architecture for the Digital Product Service System Passport (DPSSP), the DPSSP Digital Environment, an early prototype of the ontologies and semantic layer, context-sensitivity models and services, and laboratory testing of the overall PSS-Pass concept.

The next challenge is to bring these elements together and demonstrate that they work as an integrated environment under realistic industrial conditions.

From separate components to an integrated environment

PSS-Pass combines several technologies that address different parts of the product-service lifecycle.

The DPSSP Digital Environment, provides the AAS based information environment through which product and service data can be collected and accessed across the lifecycle.

A semantic layer, comprised among other components of a DPSSP ontology, defines the meaning and relationships of this information so that data originating from different systems and organisations can be interpreted consistently.

The project’s context-sensitivity services identify which information is relevant to the current situation, for example when interpreting a maintenance event or the operating condition of a piece of equipment.

A digital-twin-based simulation framework is intended to support lifecycle analysis and the evaluation of different product-service system scenarios.

Finally, AI-based methods will be used to improve the assessment and forecasting of environmental impacts.

Together, these components are intended to turn the passport from a static repository into a decision-support environment that reflects how products and services evolve during actual use.

Why semantic interoperability matters

The integration challenge is not simply to connect software components.

Lifecycle information may originate from manufacturers, service providers, machine controllers, enterprise systems, digital twins, users and downstream circular-economy actors. These sources often describe the same products and events in different ways.

A maintenance application may use one identifier for a component, while a digital twin or product passport uses another. The systems may also differ in terminology, data structures and level of detail.

PSS-Pass therefore uses ontologies and semantic models to establish a common interpretation of the exchanged information. The early prototype already covers a first set of ontologies for DPSSP interoperability together with the semantic layer and context-sensitivity services.

For ATB, this is closely linked to its broader work on semantic interoperability, context modelling, digital twin based simulation and data spaces. The PSS-Pass project description identifies these areas among ATB’s main contributions to the project.

ATB’s Context Sensitivity Service

ATB contributes the Context Sensitivity Service that connects raw lifecycle and operational information with the situation in which that information becomes relevant.

This distinction is important.

A temperature measurement, for example, cannot be interpreted correctly without knowing which component it refers to, which operating mode was active and whether the value occurred during normal operation, maintenance or a failure condition.

Likewise, a component replacement becomes more informative when it can be connected with the product configuration, previous failures, service activities and expected remaining lifetime.

The purpose of context sensitivity is therefore not to collect as much information as possible, but to identify and structure the information needed for a particular lifecycle decision.

This can support applications such as predictive maintenance, environmental-impact assessment or recommendations about whether equipment should be repaired, reused, refurbished or recycled.

Three pilots test transfer across sectors

The integrated PSS-Pass approach will be demonstrated in three different sectors: home appliances, complex equipment and textiles.

The home-appliance pilot addresses the extension of existing product-passport information with service and lifecycle data. PSS-Pass describes scenarios involving maintenance, product updates and upgrades, and second-market use.

The complex-equipment pilot, carried out with OAS, focuses on collecting, storing, semantically integrating and enriching information that can support predictive maintenance, Product Carbon Footprint tracking and decisions about reuse, refurbishment or recycling.

The textile pilot addresses the sustainable design of garments and exchange and integration of information across business partners in the supply chain to support garments end of life decisions.

The diversity of these pilots is deliberate. A solution that works only for one product type would provide limited evidence for the wider Digital Product Passport ecosystem.

What the pilots now need to demonstrate

The integration phase therefore has several questions to answer.

• Can product and service information from different systems be represented consistently?
• Can the digital twin based simulation framework and AI-based analysis use this information without requiring each pilot to build a completely separate data environment?
• Can information from the passport support decisions that would otherwise rely on incomplete or static lifecycle data?
• Can the context-sensitivity mechanisms identify the information needed for a particular decision?
• And can these mechanisms be transferred between industries with very different products, service models and data structures?

These are now more important than adding further isolated software components.

Towards a passport that evolves with the product

The long-term objective of PSS-Pass is to make product passports more useful throughout the operating life of a product.

A product does not remain in the state in which it left the factory. Components wear, software changes, repairs are carried out and operating conditions vary. These events influence environmental impact, remaining value and the options available at the next lifecycle stage.

The transition from architecture to pilot integration is therefore an important step for PSS-Pass. It will show whether semantic interoperability, AAS based digital environment, context awareness, digital twin based simulation and AI can work together to create a product-service passport that evolves with the product it represents.

Project facts

• Project: PSS-Pass – Methods and Tools Supporting Digital Product Service System Passport
• Grant agreement: 101177594
• Duration: October 2024–September 2027
• Coordinator: ATB Bremen
• Pilots: Home appliances, complex equipment and textiles
• Current phase: Integration and preparation for industrial validation