As manufacturing organizations become increasingly complex, their plants also become increasingly difficult to manage and plan for. Without tools to gather data and analyze their processes, businesses are left making manual calculations or taking uncalculated risks. In recent years, many manufacturers have started using a different strategy to optimize their facilities – the digital twin.
A digital twin is essentially a full virtual model of your unique manufacturing plant, designed to match your facility’s physical capabilities down to the floor layout and equipment models. Because the digital twin is a representation of your exact plant, it can be hypothetically tweaked, reworked and adjusted to test any possible improvement. This power can help organizations find the most optimal way to operate before making any purchases or final decisions.
Digital twins have emerged as an essential planning tool for any manufacturer. According to GE, a digital twin tool like VirtECS provides increased reliability, reduced risk, lower maintenance costs, improved production quality, and faster time-to-value. In our experience, two of the primary benefits of using a digital twin are the ability to troubleshoot and solve problems quickly as they arise, and strategically planning for future innovations and improvements.
Increased Control Over Problem-Solving
By offering a virtual account of your exact plant, a digital twin gives operators complete oversight and control of each piece in the manufacturing process. For example, say an engineer discovers an equipment issue that requires extended maintenance. Without an advanced tool, your team may need to physically test several ideas until the problem can be fixed. If it’s not seen as a major obstacle, the issue might even be ignored altogether in the interest of conserving energy.
With a digital twin, on the other hand, the team can immediately start using the model to quickly evaluate the best plan to work around the damaged equipment for a longer period of time. Similarly, if there’s a disruption to the supply chain, organizations can use their virtual plant to plan ahead and assess the possible production routes around the absent materials. The digital twin provides insight into exactly how the plant will perform under the new adjustments, allowing the plant to choose the schedule that is least impacted by the disruption.
Future Planning
In addition to analyzing past obstacles and solving current problems, a digital twin can also help operators understand how the plant will perform in the future. Drawing on its vast collection of plant data, the digital twin can handle adding, subtracting or replacing parts of the process and illustrate the resulting effect on production. This feature is especially helpful for organizations considering new investments or capital expenditures. Once the new potential piece of equipment, production line, or tool is added into the digital twin, the software will simulate the new production schedule and consequent output. Your team can compare the outcome to the existing plant setup and the cost of the investment to determine if it’s worthwhile, or if the money can be better spent elsewhere.
The digital twin can also help to anticipate future issues that may arise before they happen. For example, the model can use recent plant data to predict upcoming repairs or breakdowns with equipment, giving operators time to order new parts or schedule maintenance. Fixing these potential disasters in advance will reduce costs, limit waste, and ultimately allow production to continue with minimal disruptions.
VirtECS software has been allowing customers to create a digital twin of their manufacturing process for nearly three decades. With VirtECS, manufacturers can discover how to enhance throughput, reduce costs, decide the best capital allocation, and thoroughly optimize the entire plant. If you’re interested in setting up a digital twin for your facility, send us a message and one of our experts will help you get started
