Virtual Twin

Wouldn't it be great if your product can tell you early on if it will fail under specific conditions, or if your factory layout can be optimised before the first run? What if your creations could live twice – once in material that you can hold onto and once in code - as a 3D model you can spin around.  Wouldn’t this ability save you time and money?

Well, what if I tell you that this already exists and it has for a long time. It is called: digital twin, also known as Virtual Twin.

Virtual Twin as a concept or an idea revolves around having an exact replica of the item that you are manufacturing (product), or of your factory, but all in a digital format. You can think of it like a virtual prototype.

In reality, most companies are already working with a form of virtual prototype. From a product design perspective, we create the item using CAD tools like SOLIDWORKS Design to create engineering drawings, and then it’s off to be machined or fabricated. That CAD model is the start of a Virtual Twin.

In the example of a factory layout, you cannot really see any bottlenecks or if there is a more efficient way to run your processes, without interrupting manufacturing, making you lose time and money. With a virtual twin of your factory, you could test multiple layouts and simulate the process workflow, without impacting the daily jobs on the floor.

Let’s say you are in the machining business: your company has a few milling machines. In the perfect world, you’ll want all of them to be up and running constantly. You’ll always want to know what is currently being cut, what machines are not running and what jobs are coming in. If you don’t have a clear image of what’s happening, you are at risk of not being efficient. 

The heart of the idea behind virtual twins is having a living model, a model that you can simulate and improve on from a digital aspect first. A model that you can optimise and see the effects on. A model that can give you live feedback as to what is happening in your factory or in your workshop, without you wondering or making assumptions.

Think of a virtual twin as the heartbeat of your operation - intangible but vital.

Dassault Systèmes played a big role in setting up the environment where virtual twins can thrive. They have been a leader in adopting and developing technology specifically for this.  You’ll often hear the term virtual twin experience when capabilities are explained for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform (all new SOLIDWORKS customers get access to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform).

3DEXPERIENCE is a digital platform where design, simulation, and collaboration all work in harmony – giving you clarity and a single source of truth that you can trust. Utilising the 3DEPERIENCE platform capabilities, you can easily set up your virtual twin of both your product and your factory.

Dassault Systèmes has played a big role in reshaping how industries think about their products - it's not just about software, it's about having the capability to see the unseen and predict outcomes.

 The SOLIDWORKS portfolio allows you to take your great idea and turn it into something tangible, although still digital. SOLIDWORKS Simulation allows you to run different types of scenarios on your model to see if it will last in its real-world use case. Using SOLIDWORKS Visualize (rendering functionality), you can see what the product will look like if you dress it up differently in its intended environment. 

Next, you can use tools like the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to store your data, so that you never lose the truth of your design. Storing and managing your data in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will allow you to level up your digital twin by adding metadata (data about your data).

Having an exact replica in a digital platform opens up a whole new world of functionality to use to improve the efficiency of what you are working on. This allows you to make informed decisions based on real input data. 

From a product perspective, you can do all types of testing on the product beforehand – simulating whether or not the item will withstand its real-world usage, seeing what it will look like if you use different materials or finishes, and more.

Looking at the example of a factory, if you are making things and you have your entire factory layout in a digital format, you can easily see how to move stations around to optimise your process, and you can see early on where the bottlenecks could possibly be, allowing you to make strategic decisions to improve efficiency and workflow early on.

Taking digital twin to the next level, you could incorporate real-time feedback from the workshop floor and machines. You could then clearly see what machines are working on what jobs, what machines are in for repairs, and you can plan the new jobs that are coming in accordingly to make sure that you always deliver on time.

Have a look at how this one customer makes use of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and @SOLIDWORKS to get a proper digital twin of his product and how his company is thriving: https://www.solidworks.com/customer-story/oto-uses-digital-twin-trim-development-costs/

Virtual twins aren’t science fiction – it is reality.

If you have a 3D CAD model, you are already on your way to making a virtual twin - what’s stopping you from taking it further?