by: Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Iqbal
Digital twins have become an advanced solution for managing enterprise assets where a physical thing has its digital twin. Digital twins allow enterprises to model a physical system, product, or process in-depth and in real-time, all while achieving better results with fewer errors and greater efficiency. This technology uses information gathered from various sensor characteristics, IoT objects and much more to create real models of actual physical objects, which can be altered or interacted with within the technology platform. Digital twins’ application in enterprise management introduces solid fundamentals to address the increased performance improvement rational. Organizations can keep track of asset status continuously, observe a deviation, and employ preventive measures. This cuts the time that machinery takes before it can be used again and in turn increases the lifespan of machinery that are highly crucial. In particular, for manufacturing and logistics industries strongly dependent on highly technical equipment, digital twins offer an affordable approach to maintaining flawless functionality and addressing potential equipment failures.
Another major benefit of digital twins is generated from various dynamic models associated with it, which can simulate scenarios. It provides the enterprises the virtual environment on which they can test out different operational models that would not interfere with the actual operations. For instance, a factory manager can model what a new production schedule will look like or try a new layout of equipments to determine the most efficient flow rate. This capability ensures that business organizations are in a position to respond to new market conditions whenever these are available and make decisions based more on facts than feelings. In supply chain management, digital twins act as a source of a holistic representation of the company’s value chain. They give enterprises tools to describe the material flow of products, find out where the problem is, and when demand changes. Real-time integration of information from suppliers, warehouses and distribution channels increases supply system robustness and customer satisfaction. Thus, this approach guarantees that resources be consumed to their optimum; and that any disruptions be addressed before they happen.
As important as in each stage of the product’s lifecycle, the applications of digital twins are also impactful in product lifecycle management as well. Digital twins do not only extend from design and development phase all the way to deployment and even the retirement phase of the product’s life. Engineers can also simulate rigid prototypes and learn of structural drawbacks and usage of materials during simulation without physically manufacturing their products. Digital twins, after the product release, can also be used in ongoing monitoring, and if necessary, product updates and customer experiences may be updated to meet their needs.
Digital twins find application in smart cities and relate to areas such as urban planning and management of infrastructure. They serve as a Rest Controller of the city’s layout for the city planners to simulate data to make decisions on movement patterns, energy usage and resources. The decision makers of the city can get an idea of how to apply sustainable concepts to improve the standard of living in the different quarters. Another thing that can point to the use of digital twins is the prediction of potential effects of natural disasters and suggested measures. Another sector that greatly profits from using digital twin technology is healthcare. Avatars of the medical devices, the hospital environment, or – even – patients themselves may have a positive impact on health care’s quality and on the service’s organization. For instance, patient-specific digital twins allow for better estimation of the physical response to various therapeutic measures since each patient is considered a special case. This approach in devising diagnosis, reduces the side effects in a patients treatment process.
In retail specifically, they are transforming the entire experience that a consumer gets or the running of stores. Today retailers have the chance to utilize virtual replicas of stores in order to define the best layouts, evaluate various merchandising scenarios and even determine customers’ traffic simulation. Regarding e-commerce, they are useful in forecasting the behavior of consumers and estimating their purchases, controlling stock and providing customization of the advertisements. Such capabilities can help retailers to sustain the forthcoming marketplace challenges successfully.
In energy and utilities industries, digital twins are also helping them manage and improve performance and reduce overall impact on the environment. Utility companies, windmill generators, and solar companies can derive a lot of value from monitoring original equipment buildup and analytics that digital twins offer. In this way, modeling helps stress-test companies and introduces approaches that would help save money and meet environmental standards at the same time. This is a move that is in harmony with the main world trends aimed at using renewable energy and reducing carbon footprint.
Some of the industries earliest to embrace digital twin are the aviation and automotive industries applying it in the design, maintenance and overall operational optimization. All developers of aircraft can perform tests on engines and airframes as well as predict the behavior of their aircraft to guarantee safety. The same way, auto makers leverage digital twin in improving the car design and evaluating the vehicle fleets, in addition to creating the self-driving technology.
Rather, digital twins are also creating positive change in construction and real estate sectors. Virtual models can also be used in demonstrating how well a given structure will be designed structurally, or how energy efficient the building will be once it’s in use or how effectively a particular space inside a building will be utilized. As mentioned in the operational phase, the digital twins help the managers of the building to, monitor facility systems, control energy consumption, and forecast maintenance requirements. This not only brings down cost but also results in improved satisfaction levels of the occupants of the premises.
In the given field of education and training, it is used to give realistic learning sensations and simulations. Machineries, facilities or processes can be created or designed virtually to enable trainees handle them real like situations, which of course helps to climate extreme risks. This is especially useful in the fields like the oil and the gas, where mistakes which are made can be disastrous.
With more enterprises integrating the digital twin technology in their operations, issues to do with data security and privacy come to the forefront. Due to the overwhelming number of generated and shared data by digital twins, there are certain risks and threats that have to be considered. It will also be pertinent to use firewalls and other mechanisms like encryption and access control to enhance adequate protection of information within organizations for the sake of ascertaining expected corporate loyalty from stakeholders. To be precise, digital twins can be best and most efficiently utilized only if specialized assistance is sought from engineers, data scientists, and business strategists at the same time. IT vendors, subject-matter specialists, and consumers must work together to get the most out of this technology. In addition, companies have to rely on the infrastructure, which can be incorporated readily and manage the data integration easily for making the enterprises to function effectively in a large scale.
Digital twin technology is already gearing up to revolutionize the concept of the future enterprise management by dealing with duality of the physical and virtual realms. Its effectiveness to give monitoring detail, predictive analysis, and operation effectiveness make it an important tool in many sectors. In the future, the application of digital twins of everything will grow and make it possible for companies to set higher levels of technical advancement, environment preservation, and market prowess.
