DIGITAL COPIES AND THINGS YOU DIDN’T EXPECT

DIGITAL TWINS AND WHAT YOU DIDN’T EXPECT

You have probably heard or read the term “digital twin” somewhere in podcasts, blogs, or articles, right? This term has been gradually gaining popularity in recent years across technology and industry forums. Many companies have adopted and introduced digital twins to their customers.

Each version of a digital twin is usually based on a core concept: a digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or product. It includes designs, simulations, or development of other models. Time also changes as the product it represents is completed. In other words, the digital twin merges the virtual and real worlds, blurring the boundaries between engineering and processes.

Beyond this core concept, what exactly is a digital twin, and can it quickly respond to your various requirements? Is it a data stream or a process? Does it only reflect high accuracy of the current product status, or can it predict product performance or other attributes? Does it have limits with different products? Should it be extended throughout the product lifecycle or value chain?

According to Siemens, each product needs only a single digital twin. It can support multiple lifecycle stages and models corresponding to the actual product condition. A comprehensive digital twin usually has the following characteristics:

• Provides an accurate simulation of the product or process in terms of shape, function, and status/configuration of the product.
• Participates throughout the entire product lifecycle, predicting and optimizing both the product and the manufacturing system that produces it.
• Connects real-world operational data from design to production throughout the product lifecycle to continuously improve quality, efficiency, and quickly respond to customer needs or market conditions.

A comprehensive digital twin of complex products includes all multi-domain models and data, from mechanical CAD and CAE to software code, bills of materials, process sheets, etc. As mentioned above, the digital twin evolves and improves alongside the product as functions are refined, simulations are completed, test results are collected, and design changes are implemented.

A comprehensive digital twin does not stop at bringing product designs into current production. With IoT connectivity and cloud-based data analytics, it can act as part of a closed-loop feedback mechanism between product design, manufacturing systems, and the physical product. This creates an integrated system to validate, compare, and optimize the state between products and their comprehensive digital twins.

When the feedback loop extracts terabytes of data from connected production lifecycles and products, the comprehensive digital twin establishes and derives value from this data. This not only provides short-term benefits but also brings long-term advantages as the reusable data can accelerate design evaluations and tradeoff analyses for faster decision-making.

Furthermore, a comprehensive digital twin enables businesses to design, build, and optimize next-generation products faster and at lower cost, with fewer prototypes and scrap. This creates a distinct competitive advantage in meeting growing customer demands for high performance, smart features, quality experiences, and personalization.

Source: Siemens

SDE Digital Technology Co., Ltd (SDE TECH) was established in 2014. By 2018, we were honored to become a Smart Expert Partner – a leading partner of Siemens Digital Industries Software in the Southeast Asia – Pacific region for Siemens NX (Unigraphics NX), Simcenter, Solid Edge, Tecnomatix, and Teamcenter management solutions.