Volkswagen, with AWS, Siemens, opens up its industrial cloud

German automotive giant Volkswagen has announced it is to open its industrial cloud to other manufacturing and technology companies.

In partnership with AWS and integration partner Siemens, the open platform will allow partners to connect to Volkswagen plants and contribute production optimising software.

Volkswagen is taking an app store approach, that will allow different Volkswagen plant locations to download applications from the industrial Cloud to optimise operations.

The Industrial Cloud, which is built on AWS architecture such as IoT, machine learning and data analytics, is planned to eventually include all of Volkswagen’s factories and supply chain, in the hopes of improving data exchange

In a press release, Nihar Patel, Executive Vice President New Business Development at Volkswagen, said: “With the Industrial Cloud we are creating a platform allowing partners to contribute their solutions. This will help the Volkswagen Group achieve global efficiencies at its plants. At the same time. [sic] we are creating the pathway for partners to scale their applications and optimize their own operations. This way, everyone will benefit.”

Initially, 11 partners are making software available through the cloud, including an AI algorithm for improving the efficiency of driverless transport systems and an application for creating digital twins. While the benefit for Volkswagen is obvious, the company said its partners would be able to derive knowledge that could in turn inform their own products.

“Today’s news continues our initial mission of the Industrial Cloud project to help Volkswagen together with Siemens and their partners to focus their resources on optimizing production, creating new business opportunities for smart products, and improving operational efficiency across the entire value chain”, says AWS Dirk Didascalou, Vice President of AWS IoT, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “We look forward to watching the marketplace collaboration flourish as participants take advantage of the AWS native open architecture of the Industrial Cloud.”

(Image: Volkswagen)