Could digital twins be an enabler in improving manufacturing and product performance?

Digital twins are not new to modern manufacturing and industrial applications. Organizations leverage digital twin technology for distinct purposes such as to improve ongoing operations, test new products before launching, and training employees, among others. As this technology is relentlessly multiplying credited to its growing capabilities and sophistication, it will significantly revolutionize manufacturing and industrial performance. A digital twin is a digital replica of an object in the physical world. It is made possible thanks to the proliferation of IoT sensors that glean data from the physical world and convey it to machines to recreate.

As the manufacturing industry is getting more complex and challenging, manufacturers need to look for emerging technologies to confiscate barriers and emerge as digital players in the market. This has become indispensable in today's era of digitalization and Industry 4.0. Digital twins hold considerable productivity and quality opportunities for manufacturing and other industrial operations. They have the potential to lower costs and optimize performance.

With IoT sensors, the digital twin will be able to reap continuous, real-time data from the object. This inimitable interaction makes it possible to virtually monitor the object. This technology is essential in improving situational awareness and enabling manufacturers to test future scenarios that can enhance asset performance and proactively predict maintenance faults.

Today, many manufacturers are starting to leverage digital twins to accomplish a product-centric and model-based enterprise. They are deploying this technology to manage the performance, effectiveness, and quality of fixed assets such as manufacturing machines, lines, and plants. Digital twins also represent an immense opportunity in the manufacturing industry such as engineering, design customization, production, and operations.

Digital Twins to Improve Product Design

As customers today are continuously demanding customized products, manufacturers face a growing challenge to meet their needs on time. Embracing digital twins will let the design and engineering teams to model various permutations. Digital twin-driven product design and development is always partly driven by analysis of existing products. This technology can allow manufacturers to comprehend the performance of their products at a scale and automatically apply these insights to create better products, thereby stimulating the pace of innovation. Eventually, it will make it easier to meet customer demands and integrate user data to enhance customization options.

Adoption of Digital Twins in Industrial Operations

The concept of the digital twin was first introduced in 2002. The technology was then not accepted instantly across the industrial manufacturing domain owing to the inability of the sector to collect, handle, and utilize large datasets. In contrast, this technology today is being accepted hand-in-hand. The successful adoption of digital twins requires the better utilization of IoT technologies such as sensors, high-speed networks, low-cost data storage, and big data analytics, as well as Industrial 4.0 technologies including augmented reality and virtual reality. The global digital twin market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 58% from US$3.1 billion in 2020 to US$48.2 billion by 2026.