Digitaler Zwilling digital twin maschinenbau

The digital image of your assets (e.g. machines or systems) in Industry 4.0 solutions

Digital twin and digital twin in mechanical engineering

What is a digital twin?

A digital twin is a digital image of a machine or system. The physical object is digitally represented, recorded, reproduced or simulated. The representation of the key figures associated with the digital twin, such as sensor data (e.g. in the form of a temperature curve) or production performance data, is also sometimes referred to as a digital twin. Here, the overall picture is not yet displayed, but only individual measurement figures, which in this case form the "life data" of the digital twin.

There are various levels within the virtual image of a digital twin. The final stage shows the complete machine or system virtually 1-to-1 and simulates its individual processes. This makes it possible, for example, to apply a virtual load to a robot arm and test how the arm behaves under the load. Physical simulations are also part of this: In aircraft construction in particular, flow simulations are often carried out to analyze behavior without having the aircraft physically available.

In this final stage, there is usually also a link to the enterprise resource planning system (ERP), i.e. the company's resource planning. This also involves collecting data on suppliers and individual materials. This is already standard practice in aircraft construction. Every single spare part is recorded, allowing the exact origin to be viewed: Who bought this part, when and where, where it is stored, what quality the spare part is and how much it cost when it was purchased.

Industrial IoT platforms and IIoT software modules such as shopfoor.io often use digital twins in the form of AAS (Asset Administration Shell) to map assets, their hierarchy levels and status data in a user-friendly and useful way.

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How mechanical engineering companies benefit from a digital twin

Why should companies in the manufacturing industry rely on a digital twin to get started quickly with IIoT? Even at the beginning of the use of a digital twin, results are achieved without major hardware expenditure, which drive process optimization. In the first step, it is not yet necessary to link data with each other to create a digital representation of an entire plant. This can then be used as a basis for gradually linking data points for individual machines or components with the respective digital twins and getting to know your own machines better. At the end of the project, all key figures for the machine are displayed and, for example, all documentation and work instructions are also recorded. This collected knowledge is combined in the digital twin.

Reading out the individual data and the process of creating a visual image increases the general understanding of the operation of the systems. As a result, individual products and processes within the company are sustainably improved. Thanks to the visualization of machine data, new business areas can be developed that have a positive impact on business results.

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The larger the system, the more relevant a digital twin is

A digital twin becomes profitable when it comes to more complex systems. The larger the system, the more relevant a digital twin becomes. Especially if not all key figures for the products and processes have been recorded yet.

A digital twin can also increase efficiency, which plays a key role in large production volumes in particular. With the help of the digital twin and the data collected here, employees in the company understand their systems and machines even better and can therefore develop more efficient processes and identify problems earlier. This saves time and reduces problems in production.

Additional optimization with shopfloor.io

shopfloor.io is a very interesting option for anyone interested in the topic of "digital twins". This is a digital twin application that networks machines and visualizes important key figures, tasks, machine data and malfunctions as well as other relevant events in a cloud application. Here, shopfloor.io often accesses the digital twins via the administration shell, which displays the assets, their status data and hierarchy levels in a user-friendly and useful way. The aim is to enrich products with technical innovations in Industry 4.0, such as machine learning. It also reduces the technical complexity for the end user and enables successful adaptation through self-explanatory applications with a focus on real added value.

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Who is shopfloor.io for?

The architecture of shopfloor.io is designed for working with very large amounts of data in the machine environment and can be integrated into cloud services such as AWS as well as on-premises solutions. This enables a quick entry into the industrial IoT without becoming dependent on a cloud provider. The modular approach of shopfloor.io offers complete flexibility to expand or replace components and services with your own implementations at any time.

elunic - your professional support for the digital twin

The elunic team is at your side with its experience and in-depth expertise when it comes to digital twins. We are your IIoT partner at eye level. Our experts advise you and work with you to develop innovative and future-proof user experiences. Read one of our success stories on the topic of "digital twins" in the showcase here.

elunic has been developing cloud-based software solutions for medium-sized companies and corporations in industry for 15 years. We meet the growing requirements of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things with more than 30 highly qualified and specialized experts in areas such as big data, predictive maintenance, IT security and UX development.