Volkswagen Group and Amazon Web Services have extended their collaboration on the Digital Production Platform
Volkswagen Group and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have extended their collaboration for five more years, on the Digital Production Platform (DPP), Volkswagen's "factory cloud", designed to support automotive manufacturing
Volkswagen uses DPP to deploy AI and IT systems to its global production sites, enabling faster, more flexible production, reduced IT costs, and quicker releases of new models to the market.
Volkswagen and AWS developed the DPP into a digital link to help connect order intake, logistics, and manufacturing, ensuring smoother data flows throughout the entire process. Additionally, DPP enables Volkswagen to release new IT systems as standardised solutions across its factories.
The Volkswagen Group has 114 facilities worldwide, of which 43 sites in Europe, North and South America are already connected to the DPP.
Hauke Stars, member of the board for management for IT at the Volkswagen Group, said: “Our ambition is to become the global automotive tech driver. To achieve this, we are consistently digitalising and connecting all areas of our company. Our goal is to bring products and technologies to our customers even faster. The Digital Production Platform plays a key role in this: it is the digital nervous system of our factories, and the key to a future of AI-powered production.”
Extra efficiency
Volkswagen can release new IT systems for production and logistics uniformly to all factories connected to the DPP.
"Guided Vehicle Completion" is one example of a digital solution that optimises the coordination of complex processes in vehicle assembly. Volkswagen, Audi, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles are already using it across 13 plants.
The high availability and scalability of AWS help Volkswagen to host the production-critical systems in the cloud, reducing the risk of production line stoppages.
The central standards help to form a unified, cross-functional data foundation, leading to a more consistent use of technologies like AI. One example is 'KI4UPS', where Volkswagen utilises AI to support assembly line teams in deploying vehicle software, enabling them to identify potential electronic issues more quickly.
Overall, the Volkswagen Group uses over 1,200 AI applications, far beyond the world of production. Through AWS services like Amazon SageMaker, Volkswagen can train AI models and build industrial computer vision use cases to improve quality control systems.
These AI applications are also included in the effort towards sustainability, for example, at the Poznań, Poland, plant, AI is used to optimise electricity consumption to help decrease CO2 emissions.
Even smarter
DPP helps to lay the foundation for data-based improvements in manufacturing efficiency, including predictive maintenance and remote monitoring. At German sites like Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt, AI systems perform real-time image analysis during production, ensuring every component is accurately fitted to match each vehicle's configuration.
Improved resilience
Decisions can be made more quickly due to the continuous availability of data throughout the manufacturing process. Additionally, cybersecurity and the digital resilience of systems benefit from centralised standards and the unified data foundation provided by the DPP.
Christian Vollmer, member of the brand board of management of Volkswagen for production and logistics and member of the extended group executive committee, said: “Our high-performance vehicle production is a key driver of success for the Volkswagen Group and its brands. By more closely integrating development and manufacturing through a shared, AI-capable data structure, we are creating the conditions to bring our vehicles to customers even faster.”
Software-defined vehicles
Volkswagen is putting more emphasis on software-defined vehicles (SDVs), next-generation models where most functions are managed and updated through its software.
The DPP will play an essential role in enabling software deployment directly in the manufacturing process. This will be shaped by the Volkswagen Group's working with Rivian Automotive, which involves developing the next generation of electronics architecture and vehicle software.
AI solutions, such as KI4UPS, and their data models have already been developed and can be flexibly adapted to future electronics architectures.
Kathrin Renz, vice president of AWS Industries, said: "Volkswagen Group is setting new standards for smart manufacturing. Our five-year extended collaboration combines AWS's cloud infrastructure and purpose-built IoT and machine learning services with Volkswagen's manufacturing expertise. Together, we're fast-tracking AI solutions that will help unlock new levels of innovation throughout Volkswagen Group’s manufacturing operations."
