Audi adopts virtual PLCs, taking manufacturing to ‘a new level’
7 April 2025 
Image: Audi
Audi and Siemens say they are revolutionising manufacturing processes at the car-maker’s plants using software-defined automation and artificial intelligence (AI). They are integrating virtual and hardware controllers, enhancing safety functions and streamlining production processes.
To speed up the transition from automated to adaptable production, Audi is merging the IT and OT levels by virtualising the shop floor. It is implementing Siemens’ first virtual controller – the Simatic S7-1500V – on a car body assembly line at a factory in Neckarsulm, Germany.
The car-maker has started to integrate the virtual PLCs, which are compatible with its Edge Cloud 4 Production infrastructure platform. It is planning to roll out the virtual PLCs in a body shop at Neckarsulm later this year.
Audi is also using Siemens AI-driven technologies for optical inspection. The aim is to automate the detection and removal of weld spatter on vehicle bodies using a customer-trained AI algorithm. The car-maker reports that this application is already helping it to improve car body quality.
“A virtualised shopfloor is a key enabler for a flexible production,” says Audi’s board member for production and logistics, Gerd Walker. “Siemens’ software-defined automation portfolio empowers us to rapidly respond to market changes and optimise our manufacturing for more efficiency and flexibility.”
“Controllers are the ‘brains’ of machines and factories,” adds Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries. “Now we are virtualising these brains and bringing them to the cloud. This accelerates Audi’s digital transformation and increases agility, efficiency, and safety in production – for more flexible, future-proof manufacturing. Together, we’re taking automotive production to a new level and significantly strengthening competitiveness.”
The Simatic S7-1500V virtual PLC is designed to integrate IT and software capabilities. The hardware-independent controller provides the same functions as a hardware controller and is compatible with Siemens’ Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portfolio.
Users can access the functions, interfaces and tools they’re familiar with from using hardware PLCs. The virtual controller is designed to be integrated into an IT infrastructure, allowing Audi to manage it centrally and adapt it to meet its needs. This makes PLC projects easier to scale. Open data interfaces mean the virtual PLCs can be combined with IT systems.
Siemens’ Simatic S7-1500V F virtual PLC has received TÜV safety certification, making it the first failsafe virtual controller on the market. In the past, failsafe components have required specialised hardware to provide functional safety. With the failsafe virtual PLC, safety mechanisms can be implemented in an industrial edge environment, allowing users to migrate safety-sensitive applications to software-defined automation environments.
