What if you could keep your assets working properly, secure and well-maintained — all without an actual physical inspection? According to the Gartner report “Prepare for the Impact of Digital Twins,” half of large industrial companies will be reaping such benefits and consequently enjoying 10 percent greater effectiveness, by 2021. Digital twins are virtual representations of a process, product or service derived from sensor information. They create a bridge between the physical and digital worlds, making it possible to optimize operations, detect issues, test settings, simulate scenarios and predict performance. The concept has been in existence under different names for several decades now - and it is one of many building blocks in a digital transformation.
Interestingly, University of Michigan Professor Michael Grieves, Ph.D., first wrote about digital twins in a 2002 whitepaper. More than a decade later, several factors — including constant connectivity, the cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine intelligence, Industry 4.0 and related competences — have converged, making it possible for companies of all sizes and in all kinds of industries to tap into the concept he originated. Because we have been able to overcome digital technology limitations, such as prohibitive data storage and bandwidth costs, each day, an increasing number of digital twins are enabling users to oversee the life cycle of any process, product or service and establish an essential base for digitally connected offerings within the organization. As I mentioned, the concept of digital twins has been around for several decades, but recent technological developments have driven its evolution significantly. Whereas where we used to use models and teach them how to work, now the digital twin understands how things work, continuously learns and provides us with the insight. The digital twin can de-risk new product introduction or help you determine efficiencies in existing processes. It enables you to conduct a series of experiments in a virtual setting. Companies can create digital twins to remove the variability associated with the physical world, allowing them to manipulate variables based on existing knowledge. Of course, it should go without saying that none of this would be possible without a strong IT foundation. In simple terms, the digital twin is a virtual sandbox of digital building blocks that allows you to test a list of hypotheses that needs to be resolved before going into production.
In the Deloitte article “Industry 4.0 and the Digital Twin” the authors write: “The digital twin is based on massive, cumulative, real-time, real-world data measurements across an array of dimensions. These measurements can create an evolving profile of the object or process in the digital world that may provide important insights on system performance, leading to actions in the physical world such as a change in product design or manufacturing process.” Digital twins enable data analysis and system monitoring to head off problems before they occur, prevent downtime, develop new opportunities and plan for the future with simulations, writes Bernard Marr in Forbes. “Lessons are learned and opportunities are uncovered within the virtual environment that can be applied to the physical world — ultimately to transform your business. Imagine [digital twins] as your most talented product technicians with the most advanced monitoring, analytical, and predictive capabilities at their fingertips,” writes Marr. Where to Start with the Digital Twin You will want to run pilot programs because they are necessary to establish the boundary conditions, the goals of the projects, necessary assets and funding requirements.
