The Power of the Industrial Metaverse

A Deep Dive into the Future: How the Industrial Metaverse Reimagines Operations, Maintenance, and Supply Chain.

“I think it’s mostly hype — but they’ve got good promoters!”

“It’s probably at least slightly overhyped — but let’s see where it goes!”

The above were the replies of two high-profile tech company managers when asked about the industrial metaverse.

It might surprise you, but there is still no standard definition of the industrial metaverse. Most tech companies define it in ways that mainly serve to advertise a product they’re selling.

IDC* defines the industrial metaverse as a highly immersive future environment that blends the physical and digital to enable a shared sense of presence, interaction, and continuity across multiple engineering, operations, supply chain, and business spheres.

I like IDC′s point of view. It reflects the practical aspects of the industrial metaverse but doesn’t set unrealistic expectations.

Distinct from the social metaverse (which may have little relation to the real world), the industrial metaverse is a physically based virtual platform that fuses data from all software, electronic, and mechanical modalities, including assets, the Internet of Things (IoT), social media, enterprise systems, and business apps.

But is there real value in the industrial metaverse for users in an industrial environment? Let’s take a brief — but deep — dive.

If You Are CEO or CFO …

The industrial metaverse can serve as a virtual environment or data visualization platform that enables the CEO and CFO to stay informed about the performance of the company in real time and at a granular level. An absolutely transparent view of the performances of personnel and financial and operational aspects offers the C-suite a mighty tool to analyze, simulate, and control costs across the board.

An industrial metaverse environment can help contextualize real-life data on inventories, production and operational KPIs, and other financial data relevant to controllers and balance sheet and P&L keepers. It can enable relevant stakeholders to meet in virtual environments to collaborate, train, or just talk about results and their impact on real processes and operations.

If You Are CIO …

The metaverse, the 3D internet, connects virtual 3D worlds described in USD (Universal Scene Description) and viewed through a simulation engine. -Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia

The industrial metaverse can also be understood as a cloud-native, multi-domain visualization and 3D collaboration platform that brings a product to life with integrated, physically accurate simulation digital technology.

Tools on the market can enhance the visual representation into a closed-loop digital twin. These tools add real-time performance data — including data from the interaction of the mechanical, electrical/electronic, and software domains.

Specific hardware and software requirements should evolve from leveraging an industrial metaverse platform. Creating a metaverse environment requires the collaboration of stakeholders including hyperscale's and providers of simulation platforms, 3D visualizations, and digital business platforms.

Because the industrial metaverse is based on leveraging real-time data, for successful use in operations the data management architecture and a secure cyberenvironment must be absolute pillars.

Be ready to obtain what’s necessary to leverage the industrial metaverse across functions! There’s value in industrial metaverse for operations, maintenance, quality, engineering, design, procurement, and supply chain — to just name a few.

If You Are a Line of Business Leader …

Imagine a powerful tool that helps you actively manage and steer processes relevant to your LOB.

The industrial metaverse environment can serve as a virtual second life, a place where all key company domains are integrated. Easy access is offered to data, information, and personnel. The full potential of AI technology, including generative AI models, can be unlocked in a complex, data-standardized digital twin environment.

Industrial metaverse creators envision the simulation of processes, layouts, and business situations, as well as customer and market behaviors. LOB leaders can explore virtual or augmented reality simulations to identify areas for improvement, test scenarios, and to streamline operations without disrupting real-world production.

The industrial metaverse can serve as a training and skills development platform, providing immersive experiences. Employee skills can be enhanced — particularly for complex or hazardous tasks. Use of such platforms can reduce training costs, minimize risks, and accelerate learning.?

The industrial metaverse can provide novel ways to engage with customers, suppliers, and other ecosystem participants. It can include virtual showrooms, product demonstrations, interactive experiences, and relationship management portals. Business leaders can leverage these technologies to create immersive, personalized experiences that drive sales and boost supplier reliability and customer engagement.

Key functions offered by the industrial metaverse include tools and platforms for virtual prototyping and design iterations. This makes great sense for R&D — but shop floor engineers, quality managers, maintenance professionals, and supplier management engineers can also utilize these capabilities for their own projects. This saves time and resources — and accelerates iteration and innovation.

The virtual environment enables organizations and LOB leaders to reach their sustainability goals, mostly through the provision of contextualized real-time information obtained across the business value chain and product life cycle. CO2 footprint management/reduction is one side of the coin; the other is the ability to track a physical product across its life cycle via a digital thread.

An industrial metaverse platform enables the practice of truly circular principles: A product’s data across the stages of its life cycle can be provided to the relevant stakeholders, from material research and designers to shop floor engineers. The aim is to reduce the product’s CO2 impact across the phases of planning, making, sourcing, delivering, servicing, and reuse/recycling.

In Conclusion

So is the industrial metaverse mere hype — or does it have beneficial, real-world uses? It is definitely real, as we can see from the first applications of the platform across industries (mainly automotive and EV battery manufacturers).

The research and development in industrial metaverse is currently experiencing a remarkable boom. Positioned at the forefront, Siemens is making significant strides by establishing its Erlangen, Germany location as a pivotal global hub for research and development, marking it as the epicenter for cutting-edge technology in the industrial metaverse.

To bolster this vision, Siemens is dedicatedly investing approximately €500 million in expanding its development and manufacturing capacities. In my personal opinion, this substantial investment not only signifies great news for the region and technology enthusiasts but also serves as a beacon of hope for Europe's industrial competitiveness, which has been facing challenges.

My advice for early adopters would be to carefully watch the hyperscale's, leading technology vendors, and even the start-up scene to understand the dynamics of industrial metaverse development. Its power will exponentially increase due to the number of stakeholders involved — and the rising number of use cases that impact efficiency, sustainability, employee experience, pace of innovation, and business performance.

Experience the future of industry firsthand - Take a look at our latest research report with MIT Technology Review and unlock the potential of the Industrial Metaverse!

*International Data Corporation (IDC) is a leading global firm specializing in market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the IT, telecommunications, and consumer technology sectors, with over 1,300 analysts in 110 countries and a focus on helping professionals make informed decisions.