Digital Twin the virtual game changer - MVP (maximum variable product)

#DigitalTwin – A concept very less understood or heard. It is not a new concept, but less understood. It is a virtual version of an #MVP, but in this case, it is not minimum viable product, but it is maximum variable product as you can check many simulations with variation before implementation. It is an advance level of #DesignThinking.

Digital Twin is being implemented already at large corporations in many sectors. #Manufacturing is one of them. Irrespective of what the organization is manufacturing. For large manufacturers they depend on other manufacturers or collaborators who are #SMEs or #MSMEs. For the small manufacturers traditional physical trial and error methods prove too expensive and time consuming. The number of trials may not cover all the scenarios due to time or lack of data or vision.

Digital Twin, which is a replica of physical product virtually, that will help the production team and innovation team to visualize the results with various simulations or what if analysis. There is already a lot of data being collected by #IOT, #Wearables, #Systems, #Apps, #ERPs etc., where #AI and #ML are integrated to enable the digital twin. This conglomeration is missing in many entities due to various reasons such as lack of knowledge, skills, cost etc.,

Large entities have deployed this and have been able to reduce #rework, achieve faster #GoToMarket time, save cost, and increase profits. The machines can virtually talk to the production engineer to assess or analyse the root cause of their wear and tear, solutions available based on which the production engineer or business owner can take suitable decisions on time.

With the integration of IOT, AI, AR and VR, Digital Twin helps to fix a problem immediately or avoid a major disaster. The production engineer can talk to the equipment via #VR or #AR and understand from it the areas where the wear and tear has occurred. He / she can immediately take the call and fix the issue. This will also give him / her the lifetime of the equipment and estimated cost to repair or replace it.

For SMEs to implement Digital Twin will be a challenge. In India 85% of the entities are SMEs or MSMEs. Digital Twin is something where cream of these SMEs can afford to implement because

1.????They are supporting or supplying parts or equipment’s to high end manufacturers and have to compete with others

2.????They have already seen this working with their clients

3.????Their clients have trained them or shared the knowledge for their own interest

4.????Business owners are futuristic thinkers and innovators

Innovation is expensive for SMEs but today it is required for long term sustainability. During the pandemic, business owners who have thought for their future and adaptability must have thought about Digital Twin, else it is high time for these enterprises to thinking and start adapting for long term.

How many of these SMEs are even aware of this, is the real big question? How can we create this awareness which can really reduce their rework, improve quality, reduce maintenance cost, and increase effective resource utilization?

This needs a lot of push to bring a greater number of SMEs in this ambit for achieving success and benefits from Digital Twin.

Benefits:

·?????Accurate Production Planning

·?????Resource Planning including supply chain

·?????Reduce rework, Increase quality and profitability

·?????Optimize inventory

·?????Business owners can negotiate insurance premiums with their insurers as they will be low risk entities comparatively (with other factors will count)

·?????It is both predictive and preventive tool?

Limitations:

·?????Mindset or belief of the business owner

·?????Fear of getting started

·?????Empowering employees to think beyond the traditional way

·?????Change management

·?????Collaboration or Competition this will be confusion with SMEs. Collaboration can happen with vertical integration with their client or Horizontal integration of the suppliers or OEMs. Cross integration might be a challenge

Opportunities:

·?????Digital Twin (DT) can be offered as a service for SMEs where the platform can be provided for their POC and Pilot prior to production

·?????DT will help in product development

·?????Large Manufacturers can provide the lab facility within their premise for collaborative innovation

Apart from Manufacturing there are many used cases where DT can be implemented or has been implemented.

1.????In pharmaceuticals where manufacturing /innovation of a drug is a long process, with available data and simulations, the innovation need not wait DT will help the team to process and showcase all the possibilities to reduce the cycle time of testing

2.????In Automobile DT can help the team to design the car and can give all the parameters on weight, mileage, and lifetime of the car.

a.????For owners it can provide the dashboard for the maintenance and tell when it is due for servicing

b.????It can analyze the punctures and wear and tear of the Tyres, and inform the owner to replace the tyre

c.????It can tell the pattern with multiple drivers driving the car / vehicle which provides data to the owner of the car or fleet to take decisions

3.????In sports there are many used cases

a.????you can read the physical parameters of the athlete from various data collected from their practice, performance, and design them for success.

b.????Athletes can be made aware of the body wear and tear so that they can avoid rupturing of the tissues or ligaments.

c.????Coaches can take a call on the field if a player is going to be injured or will be at risk in future.

d.????The equipment’s can be tested virtually before they are put into production e.g., Cricket Bat, Tennis Racquet, Hockey Stick, Football etc.,

4.????Railways can use DT for design, maintenance for the trains and tracks to reduce accidents and costs.

5.????In Healthcare you can use Digital Twin for planning surgeries and see the number of options you have before going real time. In dentistry you can virtually design the smile and showcase to your customer or Plastic Surgery you can virtually design before it is implemented. Plastic surgeries can go wrong this will help you to ensure that your client requirements are met. The virtual design and real results will be same.

6. In construction this can be a great tool for architects, designers to virtually emulate the blueprint, load balancing, and try various options for safety and security.

There are many applications with DT. Manufacturing is taking the lead. This will eventually change every industry. The business owners can increase their profitability, negotiate lesser premiums, capture more marketshare and scale up. It will all depend on the vision of the team or the business owner.

?#manufacturing #healthcare #sports #electronics #Aviation #medical #medicalequipment #simulation

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