In Stay Sharp Episode 88, Virtual Twins: Revolutionizing Manufacturing Processes, co-hosts Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant are joined by Kevin Sullivan of Dassault Systèmes, a leading PLM company. Kevin, a longtime colleague of Juliann’s, has 35+ years of experience in manufacturing software, including what’s especially relevant to this podcast, CAD based product design and manufacturing operations management specializing in the virtual twin. The trio sit down to explore a new aspect of the digital twin: twinning the process of manufacturing products.
Defining Twins for Manufacturing
Kevin starts by differentiating a digital twin—the digital context and content of a specific type of object, be it product, process, or human—from the virtual twin. The latter connects the virtual world with the real world, explaining, “As real world activity is happening, for instance, product moving through a factory, that digital twin becomes enhanced by having real time data available to it playback data against the performance of that model. It can be available in real time or can be available historically to view product moving through a plant to make sure that we have the efficiencies.” A simulation of that virtual model, Jonathan extrapolates, is “Process simulation, but informed by real world data as well.”
In addition to the process twin, other spinoff virtual twins can be helpful. Human twins can analyze repetitive activity and help with ergonomics and avoiding injury. Robot twins can ensure robots are behaving and working in certain ways, which can protect workers interacting with them and help you target efficiency on the line. Twins, Kevin says, are about “the ability to model and simulate, and you’re doing it at a granular level with a factory or a workstation, or on a more global level where you’re looking at a production line or a factory or a collection of factories in a supply chain.”
When the Process Twin Is Important
Answering the question of who’s going to benefit the most from a process twin, Kevin notes, “One thing a lot of people don’t talk about is the dimension of value.” If you’re building an aircraft—big, complex, and low volume products—the product is really the focus. If you’re making cars, you might place equal importance on the product’s defining characteristics and the process that needs to be high-volume and high-speed.
But when you’re manufacturing a very high-volume product, bottled water to take Jonathan’s example, “That product virtual twin is not as valuable as the process virtual twin. You’re making high volume products. What actually becomes the big value prop is how do I control my manufacturing process, not what I’m making.” That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of engineering that goes into your high-volume product. Kevin adds, “But you can’t introduce those things into a profitable model unless you can make it quickly. And one of the things that the factory or that individual workstation, to have it available as a virtual twin, you can simulate that performance before you build the product.”
Where to Start
Kevin’s advice for how to get started is simple: begin with a good plan. Don’t focus only on features, functions, and capabilities, but also consider how you’ll do change management and how you’ll position your digital/virtual twin efforts for user acceptance and adoption. “You need to understand what’s my objective, how do I achieve it, and then what’s required in order to do that and walk through the process,” he says.
With a plan in hand, start small and with something you’re sure will be successful, though he reminds everyone that success is usually measured by whoever’s paying for the work—so prove the ROI up front. Jonathan summarizes, “To get [to process twins], you have to start with the end in mind to know, what kind of twin are you trying to make? At what level and what elements do you need? Do you need 3D models? Do you need scans of the factory? What is it you need? Think about step by step, how do you get there adding value so that the person who’s going to fund this says, yeah, that was successful.”
Learn More About Process Twins for Manufacturing
The full podcast contains more discussion and details on a variety of topics, including why clarifying the granularity your twin needs is so important; how Kevin recommends manufacturers balance the effort and impact to a company versus the value of virtual twins; how a virtual twin can help you figure out exactly how to best optimize your supply chain, build out your sustainability initiatives, or even onshore your manufacturing operations; and more.
Be sure to check out Stay Sharp Episode 88: Virtual Twins: Revolutionizing Manufacturing Processes and join us each week for a new podcast.
