Identification of “Industrie 4.0” component hierarchy layers

Industrie 4.0 as one of the leading research and development initiatives for factory automation systems envisions a hierarchy of Industrie 4.0 components that exhibit a generic structure and behavior related to its utilization within production system life cycles. Each component is equipped with an administration shell containing a virtual representation of its characteristics. However, it is still unclear what kind of information the administration shell must contain. The granularity and the explicit information type must be determined. This paper provides an answer to this question by establishing a theoretical framework classifying Industrie 4.0 components. Criteria will be identified that make it possible to assign any Industrie 4.0 component to a specific production system hierarchy level and serve as meaningful administration shell descriptors.