Industry 4.0 is causing a convergence of manufacturing processes and software in the industrial sector. This convergence is expected to provide manufacturing enterprises with the tools to implement diverse Industry 4.0 business models including condition monitoring, remote monitoring, risk-based scheduling, and predictive maintenance. The Digital Twin is one such application that empowers manufacturers with the tool to optimize every aspect of the product lifecycle. This post will showcase 5 ways manufacturers can leverage digital twin technology to improve revenue generation.
1. Condition-based Monitoring
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides a means to keep track of the diverse data coming from pieces of industrial equipment in different ways. Examples of parameters that can be monitored by IIoT include machine vibrations, oil-level, pressure, and temperature. Capturing and analyzing these data sets empower manufacturers with the information required to execute predictive, preventive, reactive, and corrective maintenance plans.
Using these data sets to recreate a digital twin model of assets on the shop floor provides a digital asset that monitors these parameters in real-time. Hence, manufacturers can develop powerful preventive and reactive measures to forestall machine downtime and improve safety on the shop floor. The realized benefits of using a digital twin for condition-based monitoring include:
- Reduced equipment downtime
- Increased lifespan of industrial assets
- Reduced expenditure on maintenance
2. Remote Monitoring
The condition monitoring use case highlighted above focuses on the development of digital twins to monitor individual assets. Although important to the manufacturing process, monitoring equipment is a small subset of the application powers of the Digital Twin. Analyzing facility-wide processes and operations is where the Digital Twin truly shines and remote monitoring of facility processes is one example.
Digital Twin software is capable of creating accurate digital representations of both simple and complex manufacturing processes. These processes take into consideration tens of shop floor assets, hundreds of data collection and producing points, and the interactions that occur within the shop floor. The visualized digital twin collects real-time data from the shop floor to recreate manufacturing processes thus providing enterprises with a real-time digital visualization dashboard to remotely monitor these processes. The benefits include:
- More process transparency
- Flexibility with decision making
- Access to real-time insights
3. Optimized Real-Time Scheduling
Fluctuating customer demands and the need to customize products to meet client requirements require optimized scheduling. A Digital Twin platform captures production data including available workforce and assets to develop optimized schedules to meet production goals. The example of a global eco-friendly tire manufacturer dealing with capacity losses due to a poorly scheduled workforce. In this scenario, a Digital Twin of the manufacturing plant was built using data from the manufacturer’s SAP system. With the digital twin, the manufacturer was able to create an optimized schedule for operators to increase their throughput and generate profit. You can watch the presentation here. The benefits of the optimized schedule include:
- Increased throughput quantity
- Improved production efficiency
- Saved labor costs
4. Optimized Capacity Planning
Digital Twin models of manufacturing facilities empower manufacturers with the tools to develop optimized capacity plans to improve throughput and productivity. The example of Skyworks utilizing a Digital Twin to improve its production lab capacity highlights the transformational abilities of these models. In this example, Skyworks required a capacity plan that took into consideration its workforce and the customization requests of its customer base. Skyworks built a Digital Twin of its lab using data captured from its manufacturing processes to develop capacity plans to reduce its processing times and increase throughput. The result was optimized plans that shortened production lead times which lead to increased customer satisfaction levels. The benefits of its optimized scheduling include:
- Predictable product delivery timelines
- Increased customer retention rate
- Optimized resource allocation and use.
5. Evaluating Operational Bottlenecks
The Digital Twin’s capacity to recreate physical facilities and processes into a virtual model provides manufacturers with a platform to test production plans before implementation. Bristol Myers Squibb use of a Digital Twin model to evaluate the bottlenecks it could face within its cell therapy laboratories provides an excellent example. The laboratory handled the manufacturing of CAR-T cell therapy products for cancer treatments.
The manufacturing process involves collecting an individual’s blood to develop an individualized product for the patient. Bristol Myers Squibb wanted to scale up its production capacity and needed to evaluate the challenges to expect with expanding production capacity. Using a Digital Twin, the manufacturer was able to create a detailed model of its complex manufacturing process and discover the effects of increased demand and waiting times on its facilities, as well as, ways to mitigate them. The benefits of the Digital Twin in evaluating operational bottlenecks include:
- The ability to plan for the effects of increased demand
- Insight into complex manufacturing processes and
- Optimized capacity plans
The Digital Twin extends the application of Industry 4.0 business models in manufacturing. According to Mckinsey, the Digital Twin can improve efficiency by 20 to 25%. You can learn how to take advantage of Digital Twin modeling to optimize your manufacturing operations by speaking to a Simio expert today.