What are Digital Twins and why do they matter?

NASA IN THE 70’S

The idea of digital twins began way back in the 70s with NASA’s use of pairing technology. They created a system that mirrored the vehicles they sent to space. This is how they determined the best course of action for rescuing the astronauts from Apollo 13.

Fast forward 30 years or so and Michael Grieves of Michigan University introduces the idea of digital twins at a conference for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Another 15 years on and Gartner selects Digital Twins as one of the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for the year ahead.

Although it’s been a while coming, Digital Twins are now here. Thanks to the proliferation of IoT sensors and smart devices, digital twins are becoming ever more accessible to businesses. And they’re set to change the world in many surprising way. So, what exactly is a digital twin and why are they important to you?

Caption: A digital twin can be created for any physical object, process or service (Image by beate bachmann from Pixabay)

A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF DIGITAL TWINS

Simply put, a digital twin is a virtual representation of any physical object, process or service. By pairing our physical reality with a digitised system, scenarios can be tested, key components can be monitored, and possible issues can be spotted before they become problems. What’s more new ideas and processes can be tested before going live.

Digital twins can prevent issues arising, expose more efficient ways of working and reveal opportunities that may be difficult to spot in a real-world situation.

Working like a bridge between the physical world and virtual one, digital twins rely on a range of sensors to pull information from actual objects and inform the digital one. The data is analysed against business information and other relevant facts to produce insights and a better understanding of the real-world object.

Digital twins can be as small as a hair or as big as a city. The more detailed they are and the more input that can be fed to them, the better they become at producing simulations of scenarios, uncovering business insights and opportunities, and predicting potential issues.

The opportunities that digital twins offer businesses are near endless.

THE DISRUPTIVE ENERGY OF DIGITAL TWINS

The powerful algorithms and technology behind digital twins is set to drive forward innovation at an increasing pace and improve performance beyond what could previously have been imagined.

Almost every industry you can think of is experiencing disruption from digital twins. Financial and banking institutions are using them to improve data security and online fulfilment. Energy companies are using them to optimize operations  and car manufacturers are improving car design, production and supply channels with a range of digital twins. That’s just the tip of the iceberg – there is almost no industry or business that cannot be improved with a digital twin.

INDUSTRY SIZE

Currently the digital twin industry is valued at around $3.6 billion. This is set to grow phenomenally over the next decade to reach a massive $73.2 billion. The number of IoT devices – a key component for digital twins is also on the rise. It’s estimated that more than 41 billion sensors and smart devices will be in use five years from now. Considering the multiple applications of digital twin technology, it’s not such a great surprise.

Predictive maintenance is one of the key areas that the use of digital twins is set to explode. But that’s just where the technology is seeing the largest adoption figures now. Digital twins can be used to enhance customer experiences by better understanding their needs, improve product design by modelling ideas digitally first, and develop improvements for existing products, services, operations or even expose new opportunities for businesses.

DATA RICH

Any physical object can have a digital twin created for it. The data that is generated by the physical object and fed into the virtual representation of it creates multiple opportunities to optimise and iterate for continual progress. It’s this rich data that is the key to digital twins and the massive opportunity they present for businesses of all kinds.

Talk to us now to help you with your Digital Twin on +61-1300-1-725-2647 or contact us via our Contact Page.