BIMScaler Blog – The applications of digital twins span numerous industries, transforming how businesses and services operate.
In Australia, this tech is helping to make some big leaps forward in areas like urban planning and healthcare.
Using digital twins helps us to predict what’ll happen, make sure we’re performing as well as we can and make better decisions.
All right, let’s roll up our sleeves and take a look at the fascinating world of digital twins.
Where are Digital Twins Currently Being Used?
Here’s a quick look at how digital twins are being used in different industries.
Manufacturing and Production
In manufacturing, digital twins help to make production processes and maintenance more efficient by bringing together real-time data and using it to simulate different scenarios.
They help you predict when you’ll need to do maintenance, reduce the amount of time your equipment is out of action, and make your processes more productive.
A white paper by the Industrial Internet Consortium in the “Digital Twins for Industrial Applications” shows how digital twins can model and simulate entire factories or individual production lines, giving you a better view of what’s going on and making things more efficient.
Take Siemens Mobility, for instance. They use digital twins to test out how high-speed trains will work in real life.
Bringing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and automation together makes workflows even more efficient and helps us make better decisions when developing products.
Construction and Infrastructure
The construction industry has seen some big changes recently thanks to digital twins and Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Together, these technologies help us track projects, make designs more efficient and manage resources better.
In the Cross River Rail project in Australia, digital twins are a key tool for managing all the different data that comes up during construction.
This project shows how digital twins help with planning and execution by combining data from GIS, BIM, and other sources.
One of the best things about digital twins in construction is their ability to simulate safety scenarios.
By creating a virtual environment, project managers can test different safety measures and emergency response strategies before they’re needed.
Another great thing about digital twins is that they help to make sure that construction equipment and materials are in good shape.
This real-time data is really useful for predictive maintenance, which helps to cut down on downtime and make critical assets last longer.
On top of that, digital twins help project managers keep better track of all the resources they need for a construction project.
This covers materials, labour and machinery. By looking at all the data from different sources, digital twins can make sure resources are used in the best way possible.
Just to give you a heads-up, you might find it helpful to read “Your Guideline to the Fundamental Power of Digital Twins Technology.”
Life Sciences and Healthcare
In healthcare, digital twins are used to create patient-specific models which help to create personalised treatment plans and advanced surgery simulations.
These models bring together data from different sources in real time, like electronic health records (EHRs), medical devices, and genetic information, to give a complete picture of a patient’s health.
Digital twins can predict how patients will respond to treatments by simulating different scenarios, which helps make medical interventions more accurate and effective.
Geno-DT is a genotype-specific digital twin used to predict the locations of ventricular tachycardia circuits in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC).
This non-invasive approach meant we could pinpoint the exact location of the ablation sites, which led to much better results and a reduction in the length of the procedure.
On top of that, digital twins help make more accurate diagnoses and treatment plans by simulating what would happen to a patient in a given situation.
For example, digital twins of organs like the heart or brain are used in clinical settings to develop safe and effective therapeutic strategies.
Energy and Utilities
Digital twins are a great way to make sure your energy and utilities assets are working at their best, predict when equipment might need replacing, and make your grid management more efficient.
E.ON is a great example of how this technology can be used to great effect.
E.ON’s use of digital twins has led to a big reduction in unexpected outages and an improvement in the reliability of the energy supply.
You can find the E.ON case study in the DNV report written by Theo Borst in “DNV creates Digital Twin for E.ON.”
Another great example is from the “Digital Twins for Industrial Applications,” which shows how digital twins are being used in the pelletisation process in the energy sector.
Here, digital twins are used to make the operation of pelletisation furnaces as efficient as possible by integrating data from over 7,000 sensors.
Digital twins also help integrate renewable energy sources by managing power demand fluctuations and improving grid performance.
What’s more, digital twins help us build virtual power plants (VPPs), which bring together different types of energy sources like solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage systems.
By creating a digital twin of the VPP, operators can keep an eye on and manage these assets in real time, making sure they’re performing as well as they can and contributing as much as they can to the grid.
Supply Chain and Logistics
Digital twins let you track shipments in real time and simulate different logistical scenarios to make things more efficient and predict market changes.
For example, digital twins help keep an eye on inventory levels in warehouses, making sure there’s enough stock to meet demand without overstocking.
This approach helps cut holding costs and avoid stock shortages, which is great for customer satisfaction.
IoT sensors and RFID tags in digital twins give us real-time data on where goods are and how they’re doing throughout the supply chain.
Digital twins also help logistics companies plan the best routes by looking at things like traffic patterns, weather and other things that might affect delivery times.
For instance, Swarm Logistics has used digital twins to automate fleet control, which has led to a big improvement in delivery efficiency and a reduction in planning costs.
By testing out different routes, Swarm Logistics can work out the best way to get deliveries to customers on time while keeping costs down.
You can read the full report on how Swarm Logistics optimises digital twins in “Decentralized – Fleet Control Systems.”
In warehouse management, digital twins help us design more efficient layouts and workflows by simulating different configurations and processes.
This helps us spot where there are slowdowns and make the flow of goods through the warehouse more efficient.
Retail and E-commerce
Digital twins are a pretty cool way for retailers to see what their store layout will look like and make changes without having to make any physical changes.
In practice, digital twins can show how customers move around the store, pointing out the busiest areas and helping to place products in the best spots to make them more visible and sell more.
For example, during the pandemic, Matterport’s digital twins helped retailers keep showing off their products and chatting with customers even though there were lockdowns and social distancing rules in place.
This tech not only kept customers engaged, but it also made it better by offering an interactive and immersive shopping experience.
By combining data from sales, inventory and customer interactions, digital twins can predict demand, keep stock levels optimal and cut down on overstocking or stockouts.
Digital twins can also help with personalised marketing by looking at customer data and shopping habits.
Retailers can create a personalized shopping experience by offering product recommendations and promotions that match each customer’s preferences and buying patterns.
Something you might find worth a read is “Digital Twins Performance Therapy to Get Virtual Asset in Tip-Top Shape.”
Financial Services
Digital twins in financial services bring together lots of data from different sources, including historical market data, economic indicators and real-time financial transactions.
For instance, a digital twin of a stock portfolio can simulate different market conditions, which helps portfolio managers to see how different scenarios affect asset performance.
Another major plus of digital twins in financial services is better risk management.
By running simulations of market scenarios and stress-testing financial systems, digital twins help us see where there might be weaknesses and help institutions come up with ways to deal with risks.
Another way digital twins help is by making it easier for financial institutions to plan their strategies. They can use them to model and analyse different business scenarios.
On top of that, digital twins help financial institutions stay on the right side of the regulators by giving them a clear and detailed picture of what’s going on with their transactions and assets.
One useful example of digital twins in financial services is how investment firms use this technology to make their trading strategies more effective.
By creating digital versions of their trading algorithms and market conditions, firms can test and improve their strategies in a virtual environment before using them in the real market.
Please note that there are still numerous other sectors, such as aerospace, where digital twins can be deployed to great effect.
For more info on some of the more advanced uses of digital twins, take a look at “Application of Digital Twins in Multiple Fields.”
In the article, Jinkang Guo and Zhihan Lv demonstrate the extensive applicability of digital twins across numerous sectors beyond those discussed here.
How to Apply Digital Twins to Your Business
The potential of digital twins is significant, but as with any emerging technology, there are initial challenges to be addressed.
These can range from understanding the complexities of implementation to integrating digital twins with existing systems.
At BIM Scaler, we appreciate the challenges you face and have developed solutions to address these issues. What can we do for your business?
We recognise that no two businesses are the same, and neither are our digital twin solutions. We adapt them to suit your specific requirements and objectives.
We guarantee your digital twin will integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, minimising disruption and optimising efficiency.
Our services extend beyond the initial setup. We provide ongoing support and training to ensure that you derive maximum benefit from your digital twin.
To discover how BIM Scaler can drive growth and innovation in your business with digital twins, kindly visit our BIM Management Support page or contact us today.
Or, please let us know if you would like to schedule a lunch meeting to discuss how we can make digital twins a reality for you.
In closing
From making processes more efficient to making smarter choices, digital twins are proving their worth.
But there are a few hurdles to overcome, like managing all that data these twins generate and making sure everyone’s on the same page.
That’s why BIM Scaler is there for you 24/7, ready to help you make the applications of digital twins work for your business.
