Advances in technology continue to create more ideas around cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). On the other hand, you have the digital twin technology which greatly harvests the benefits of the three technologies.
Digital twin technology uses sensors to create virtual and augmented reality. Therefore, it can give you a picture of how your product behaves through a given production process. By incorporating three-dimensional (3D) presentations, spatial digital twin technology allows you to change your final products’ features. It can also show you how the product acts while in use.
Types Of Digital Twin Technology
Depending on your organizational setting, you can use all three types of digital twins to enhance your production and service delivery.
- Product: This digital twin gives you a virtual design of your product and its performance on different production setups. Such a virtual design behavior allows you to determine the best production process to attain the best design. As a result, you can save on production costs and time.
- Process: This digital twin simulates a productions process through which your product passes. The simulation can help you generate the most efficient process for your product.
- System: The system digital twin shows you the virtual behavior of your product from production to consumption. You’re able to collect data from the real world with this digital twin. Hence, enabling you to improve service delivery and product quality.
Benefits Of Digital Twin Technology
Even though it’s mostly useful in the manufacturing industry, other sectors also incorporate digital twin technology in their processes. Digital twin technology could mainly attribute this increase in usage to a business, due to the following benefits.
- Reduced Time For New Product Launches
Using a digital twin gives you a virtual view of how your product will behave in different production processes. Hence, it cuts your time spent on figuring the process that will give you the best product design. It also allows you to introduce different product designs and their possible behavior in the real world.
- Predictive Maintenance
Digital twin collects data continuously in real-time. As such, it can help detect any possible reduction in the optimum performance of equipment in a production process. You can quickly attend to any mechanical problem and avoid serious damage with such data. In the long run, you reduce possible downtime.
Additionally, digital twin technology provides real-time data on physical products. This enables technicians to analyze and replace parts that are almost wearing out.
- Reduced Costs
Generally, before production goes live, a product undergoes a pre-production process. This initial process can be expensive. Using digital twins allows you to create a virtual prototype design, simulate its production process, and make alterations. With simulations, digital twin technology can help identify possible weaknesses during the production line.
Moreover, you can virtually induce a disruptive environment and monitor the behavior of your production process. Doing this can help indicate any vulnerability of your process and how you can manage or improve it, which is easier to do virtually than in the real world.
As it helps with real-time data monitoring, you can halt any product design or manufacturing process abnormalities before it becomes a serious problem. Digital twins can also help avoid defective designs that lead to product returns. Such timely corrections can mean lesser repairs costs.
Furthermore, digital twin technology can reduce the staff you deploy to monitor a production line. This is because a digital twin tech enables the data monitoring from one central point and pinpoints any abnormalities in the manufacturing processes. As a result, it can help reduce staffing costs.
- Help Improve Research And Development
With its real-time monitoring ability, digital twin technology can help collect data on product performance. It can also help gain customer insights and spot defects or design errors, thereby providing important data for your research and development teams. Digital twin tech collects field data that you can use to develop new product models or improve on existing ones.
- Improve Team Efficiency And Productivity
Team members can use digital twin technology to streamline their duties and functions for better productivity. By automating the process and providing real-time data, digital twin technology allows staff to focus on operational efficiency and improve service delivery. This can create a good environment for the business to grow.
Furthermore, digital technology helps the team in diagnostics and troubleshooting. This enables team members to spend fewer resources and less time solving one problem that can frustrate them at times. Quick solutions can create an enjoyable environment and motivate staff to do more.
Conclusion
New technology can help improve and increase the adoption of digital twin technology in various industries. Moreover, most businesses look at cost reduction, team risk assessment, and sound product advancement. Using digital twin technology can help attain these targets.
