Asset Owner Insights: Industrial Digital Twins and Reality Capture
/At the 2024 Industrial IMMERSIVE Week, asset owners gathered to discuss one of the most transformative trends in industrial operations: the integration of digital twins and reality capture technology for managing energy emissions and manufacturing assets. This roundtable session covered challenges, opportunities, and strategies for implementing these technologies across industries, with a focus on scalability, security, and the human element.
Panelists
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Dan Millard, eserv
Edward Martin, Twinsight Consulting
Kelly Watt, Digital Twin Consulting
Maruthi Devarakonda, Baker Hughes
Sam Hemeda, Capgemini
Here’s a recap of the main highlights from the session.
The Role of Digital Twins in Industrial Operations
The conversation opened with a deep dive into the value proposition of digital twins for industrial environments. A digital twin acts as a virtual replica of physical assets, offering real-time insights, predictive maintenance capabilities, and opportunities to optimize energy consumption. Panelists emphasized the importance of focusing on scalability and integration across multiple facilities or enterprise-wide systems to maximize the potential of digital twins.
Martin highlighted that digital twins are most effective when they can scale beyond a single project and deliver value across an organization. However, the scalability challenge involves not just technical capabilities but also aligning business needs and goals with the right digital twin strategy.
Challenges of Integration and Security
One of the recurring themes of the discussion was the complexity of integrating digital twins with existing systems. Hemeda raised concerns about how a digital twin incorporates data from various sources—contractors, suppliers, and even customers—which creates potential vulnerabilities. This data integration requires a focus on cybersecurity to prevent malicious activity. The risk of data breaches or hacking is amplified when sensitive information is compiled from multiple stakeholders, making robust firewall protections essential.
Change management was another key issue. The panelists noted that implementing a digital twin solution involves more than just technology; it requires addressing cultural and human factors. From employee pushback to adapting to new workflows, a change management strategy is essential to successful deployment.
Strategic vs. Tactical Decision-Making
Another major point made by Watt was the importance of balancing tactical versus strategic decision-making when implementing digital twins. Too often, organizations get stuck in proof-of-concept (POC) phases, focusing on short-term solutions without considering the larger picture. To avoid this, companies need to clearly define their architecture for scale, identify infrastructure gaps, and ensure that they have the right IoT infrastructure and data orchestration tools in place before expanding digital twin programs.
For instance, if certain dependencies like IoT infrastructure aren’t resolved first, the cost of digital twins can spiral, making it difficult to move from a POC to full-scale deployment.
Benefits of Digital Twins in Predictive Maintenance and Energy Efficiency
As the conversation shifted to specific applications, Devarakonda described the use of digital twins in predictive maintenance for operational assets. The ability to monitor assets in real-time and extract aging parameters allows organizations to anticipate failures before they occur. However, there’s still much work to be done in improving the estimation algorithms that power these predictions, especially when scaling digital twin models across multiple assets.
Energy optimization was also a key benefit discussed. As Hemeda noted, many companies are committed to reducing their carbon footprints but don’t always have clear strategies for achieving these goals. Digital twins, combined with immersive technologies, can play a major role in enabling organizations to measure and reduce their emissions while optimizing energy efficiency.
Addressing the Human Element
Despite the clear advantages of digital twins and immersive technologies, the human element cannot be overlooked. Panelists, including Millard, shared that the initial resistance to digital twins often stems from fear—employees worry about job security, particularly in the era of generative AI. The panel emphasized the importance of reframing digital twin technology not as a job replacement, but as a tool for enhancing the roles of employees. For instance, workers can shift from tedious manual data collection tasks to higher-value roles that involve decision-making and oversight.
Watt emphasized the need for organizations to include employees in their vision for the future. Without buy-in from the workforce, even the most advanced digital twin solution can fail to deliver its promised value. Ensuring that employees are along for the journey helps foster a culture of adoption.
Building Trust and Scaling Up
One of the final questions posed to the panelists was how to gain buy-in from key stakeholders for digital twin initiatives. The consensus was clear: trust is built through clear value demonstration. Hemeda suggested ensuring that digital twins create value for each stakeholder within the organization. Additionally, having a long-term roadmap that aligns with company goals is critical for executive buy-in, according to Watt.
The session concluded with reflections on how to avoid getting stuck in the “innovation trap”—where companies endlessly pilot new technologies without ever fully scaling them. By focusing on scalability, value, and simplicity, companies can move beyond the pilot phase and realize the full potential of digital twins across their operations.
Final Thoughts
The “Industrial Digital Twins & Reality Capture for Energy Emissions & Manufacturing Assets Roundtable” at the 2024 Industrial IMMERSIVE Week highlighted that digital twins and immersive technologies are no longer just futuristic concepts; they are essential tools for industries looking to optimize operations, reduce emissions, and achieve sustainability goals. However, realizing their full potential requires a holistic approach that combines technical innovation, strategic planning, and human-centric change management.
As the energy and manufacturing industries continue to evolve, the integration of digital twins into enterprise operations will be key to staying competitive and meeting the challenges of tomorrow.
Access the recording of this and other Industrial IMMERSIVE Week sessions on demand.
