“Our report is the second in a series of studies that takes a forensic look at how immersive technologies, including augmented reality and digital twins, could dramatically change manufacturing around the world,” says Sam Turner, CTO at the HVMC. “We know the digital twin market is going to grow to over $15 billion in the next five years, and that much of this growth will be in manufacturing applications. Here in the UK, the HVMC is not only making industry aware of the opportunities that these technologies open up, but supporting them in developing the capability to achieve maximum leverage.
He continues: “This opportunity includes the development of new business models with remote monitoring of equipment driving a move towards ‘servitisation’. It is also expected to accelerate the rate of new product introduction, as better insights into how products are being used become more accessible.”
Based on detailed interviews and surveys of industrial leaders, the report culminates in an in-depth interview between Jonathan Eyre, digital twin lead at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Paul Haimes, of US-based, global IoT technology platform provider, PTC.
Haimes, whose firm has more than 30,000 global customers and 1,000 technology and service partners, says: “I think we are on the verge of a hugely disruptive phase, where somebody is going to come out with eyewear that is not intrusive, cool from a consumer point of view and safe to use in an industrial context. And all of that, together with things like GPS locations and GEO fencing, will be explosive in the next five years.”
Despite the potential, the report’s authors question whether industry or policymakers are ready for this explosive and disruptive technology. Drawing on workshops, survey data, and detailed interviews with industry and thought leaders, the report concludes that there is still no agreed definition of a digital twin, its implementation or impact, and identifies the occasions in which immersion within a digital twin could add value.
“The report looks at the stages of a product life cycle where the digital twin offers greatest value, along with its essential components,” says Professor Rab Scott, head of digital at the AMRC. “We also look at its range of applications, from process monitoring and control, to predictive maintenance and the more rapid introduction of products.”
Haimes agrees: “When it comes to digital twins, the most common reference is maintenance and keeping assets running. For example, we are doing some work with a forging company which has connected one of its forging lines that historically had been failing every three to four months. In this instance, through connecting the line and not having any machine learning ability, the operators learnt to understand the signals and the feeds coming off the line to the point where they were able to spot problems developing with the clutch. They were then able to proactively fix the issues before a failure happened, rather than after. This is now saving them around $200,000 a year, because the line has now been running for nine months without any failures.”
As this example shows, the challenge is how to condition data so that it becomes valuable for the user. “It comes back to Steve Jobs with his phrase that simplicity is the ultimate complexity, “says Haimes. “The way in which we are able to condition data to deliver what is necessary is one of the key challenges of Industry 4.0 that we are rattling towards now. And this report gives us a deeper understanding of that challenge.”
The report is one component of a larger project entitled Business Engagement in Immersive (BEiI) carried out by Immerse UK, the Digital Catapult and the HVMC, with funding from Innovate UK. Access to the report is available here
