Consider a world in which you can access your product after it has left the factory floor and is in the hands of your customers. You’d have a unique perspective on how your customers use your product – and you’d be able to construct a thorough picture of the product’s current and historical states. That’s digital twin technology at work. And it does not stop with items. 

A virtual depiction of a product, process, person, or even location that precisely replicates and measures its actual counterpart is known as a digital twin. However, a digital twin is more than just a digital replica. This union of the digital and physical worlds enables data analysis and system monitoring to detect problems before they develop and provides an immediate solution to these problems. 

How Does Digital Twin Technology Work?

With the future already here and digital twins being used in businesses all over the world, the issue is: how does it function in practice? Implementing a digital twin allows for a uniform product simulation, allowing for product upgrades and virtual prototyping of future items. Companies use the digital twin to assist manufacturing across sectors to learn how their consumers use their goods.

This technology allows for the enhancement of the design and performance of those products. Hence, the advantages of working with digital twins continue beyond education. Many organizations equip their field service personnel with augmented reality (AR) screens, allowing them to see and operate alongside the digital duplicate of the machine they’ve been repairing. 

By practically putting this knowledge in front of these technicians’ eyes, they can be expected to correctly service hardware they’ve never even seen before. Optimization is only achievable with the digital twin providing the operator with accurate, up-to-date data. As a result, organizations can acquire real-time data and convey it to the appropriate audience back to their consumers in a meaningful way by employing this technology.

Finally, businesses are increasingly leveraging the potential of the colliding digital and physical worlds to unlock commercial value and surpass competitors. Companies may be at various degrees of digital twin maturity, but one thing is certain: the pressure is on. Digital twins are not only present in the field today; they are becoming increasingly smart, collaborating with the wider digital thread to empower the physical world.

Major Benefits Of Digital Twin Technology 

• Greater client satisfaction

We live in an increasingly customer-centric world, and providing excellent customer service can be a competitive advantage. Customers want businesses to understand their demands, and studies show that if they believe they will receive exceptional service, they will spend more. Because digital twins collect real-time data about the product, they can also enable smoother customer service and repair operations while informing future product advancements. According to a recent poll, the aerospace, defense, and pharmaceutical industries highly value this benefit.

• Better product quality

This advantage comes with time and data collecting via digital twin. After initial investments have been made, generational upgrades to a product can inform engineers and designers when designing a new product or version based on real-world operational data from numerous digital twins. This advantage is highly valued in the following industries: automotive, chemicals, electrical equipment, and medical devices.

Going From The Three-Dimensional To The Digital Twins

From asset level to system level

Most digital twins available on the market now concentrate on a single asset. However, the necessary interoperability and industry standards are met. In that case, they have the potential to be merged into a twin ecosystem that can extend up to the level of supply chains, cities, and even countries.

There are digital twins available at every stage of development. It is possible to construct digital twins at practically any level of maturity or sophistication. It is determined by the digital maturity of the organization, the availability of data, and the business questions that need to be answered by a digital twin.

Value throughout the many stages of the lifespan

The entire value chain of an asset, process, system, or organization can be improved with the help of digital twins. It can be accomplished by employing design simulation twins from the beginning of the design phase. However, from a practical standpoint, digital twins can offer value at any step of the lifecycle of an asset, process, or system.

How Does The Technology Of The Digital Twin Work?

Experts in applied mathematics or data science research a physical object or system’s physics and operational data to produce a mathematical model that simulates the original. It is the first step in the life cycle of a digital twin. Developers are responsible for ensuring that the digital computer model can receive feedback from sensors that gather data from its counterpart in the real world. 

Because of this, the digital version can imitate and simulate what is happening with the original version in real time. It makes it possible to gain insights into performance and any future issues. Different quantities of data determine the degree to which a model accurately replicates its counterpart in the real world.

The complexity and simplicity of a digital twin can vary according to the user’s needs. The twin can be used with a prototype to provide input on the product as it is being created. Alternatively, the twin can function as a prototype in its own right to mimic what may occur with a real version when it is built.

Digital Twins Drive Constant And Ongoing Innovation

You can only successfully implement a digital twin strategy if you have a clear objective and an in-depth grasp of your company’s requirements. Regardless of your goals, digital twins share one thing in common: they enable engagement in an ongoing quality improvement process. 

Once it has been developed, engineered, and put into operation, a digital twin provides full visibility into the operations and performance of the real-world organization it replicates. This visibility enables informed decision-making, which in turn helps you visualize, plan, and create a stronger, more sustainable future for both the entity in question and the activities that it facilitates.

The paradigm of ongoing innovation and education that we refer to as the “infinity loop” describes this phenomenon. Your ability to continuously improve the sustainability, resilience, and value provided by assets and processes is enabled by the digital twin, which helps you uncover significant innovation opportunities and then offers visibility into your “new normal” once changes are done.