When you create an asset and define an asset type in SAP Digital Manufacturing, that asset type can serve as an asset template. This means that the asset type can be reused for different assets, providing the same asset structure.
For example, if you want to integrate two similar milling machines of the same supplier, you need to create two assets, but you only need to create one asset type in SAP Digital Manufacturing. The asset type can then be selected for both machines and provides the same asset structure. The asset structure is used to map the data tags of both milling machines to the indicators. This means that you only need to do the mapping of the data tags, rather than creating the structure again for each machine.
When mapping the data tags of physical machines to asset indicators, you can not only reuse the asset structure, but also your production processes. For more information, see the following unit of this course: Reading and Writing Machine Data. To create an efficient shop floor integration, it makes sense to only create the asset structure elements and link the data tags you need. This improves clarity, adaptability, comprehensibility, and the maintainability of your integration scenario.