Recently, the standard proposal Intelligent Manufacturing Service Platform — Integration Requirements for Access of Manufacturing Resources and Capabilities, put forward by China, was approved by a high majority of 92.9% in the voting of IEC/TC65 (International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 65 for Industrial-Process Measurement, Control and Automation). It has become the world’s first international standard targeting intelligent manufacturing service platforms, numbered IEC PAS 63178.

Industrial cloud platforms serve as critical infrastructure underpinning intelligent manufacturing. Equipped with robust data transmission, storage and processing capabilities, they help manufacturing enterprises collect and analyze massive internal data, share manufacturing resources and conduct external collaboration. In turn, enterprises can raise product added value, boost production efficiency, innovate business models and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing sector.

The access of manufacturing resources and capabilities is a prerequisite for effective operation of industrial cloud platforms. At present, however, various industrial cloud platforms adopt divergent types of manufacturing resources/capabilities and different access methods, without unified standards. This leads to high difficulties and costs for interconnection of industrial systems within and between enterprises. To tackle this problem, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) supported the project “Cloud Manufacturing-based Smart Factory Service Model and Verification System” under the joint program of comprehensive standardization and new model application for intelligent manufacturing. Implemented via a consortium, the project was jointly undertaken by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited, CASICloud Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Aerospace Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Development Co., Ltd., and the Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute of the Machinery Industry, which jointly carried out R&D on manufacturing resource/capability access for intelligent manufacturing service platforms and built relevant test and verification systems. The standard proposal Intelligent Manufacturing Service Platform — Integration Requirements for Access of Manufacturing Resources and Capabilities, developed on the basis of this project, was ultimately approved and officially released by the IEC as the world’s first international standard for intelligent manufacturing service platforms.

The release of this standard means China has internationally recognized independent core technologies in the field of resource access for intelligent manufacturing service platforms. It offers a unified referable technical scheme for manufacturing resource access across heterogeneous global industrial cloud platforms, and strengthens China’s voice and influence in international standardization work.