Benefits of Using the Digital Twin in Manufacturing

Category: Science

A digital twin is a digital representation of a process, product, or service. They use real-time data to create realistic simulations, empowering businesses to monitor, test, and plan improvements to their products, equipment, and processes. Digital twins have been available for nearly two decades, but advances in technology, combined with lower cost points, have resulted in a renewed focus on the benefits of a digital twin strategy. The Internet of Things (IoT) is one advancement that has helped enhance their accuracy and benefits. IoT is a concept that allows businesses to easily install sensors on physical objects to collect data. Then, the sensors transmit that data to a cloud-based system that is leveraged to analyze and predict performance and/or behavior. Significance Of Digital Twin Technology Let us understand the significance of the Digital Twin technology with some benefits: 1. Connection disparate systems: The digital twin model when planned and designed correctly can be used for connecting with backend business applications to attain business outcomes in the context of supply chain operations such as procurement, manufacturing, and warehousing. 2. Visibility: The digital twin technology facilitates visibility in the operations of devices and machines as well as in the larger interconnected systems like an airport or a manufacturing plant. 3. What if analysis: It becomes easy to interact with the model via properly designed interfaces and make queries for the what-if questions to the model. This can be done for simulating different conditions that may be otherwise impractical to create in the real life. 4. Helps with explaining and understanding behaviors: A digital twin model can be used as a documentation and communication mechanism for explaining as well as understanding the behaviors of an individual machine or a collection of machines. Benefits Of Digital Twin Technology Digital twin technologies offer a wide range of benefits, including but not limited to: - Faster production times - More efficient delivery and supply chains - Improved productivity and operational efficiencies - Providing remotely configuring customized products to customers - Improved customer service - Prediction of maintenance issues before the occurrence of breakdowns - Reduced maintenance costs - Improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through minimized downtime - Enhanced reliability of production and equipment lines - Improved profits on a sustaining basis