FACTORY OF THE FUTURE
the plant , the life of the equipment is actually at the customer ’ s starting time .”
Virtual twins can be utilised at every step of this process , being tailored to specific products and customers to streamline processes and reduce waste . Manufacturers will be able to leverage assets or virtual twins created in the engineering and manufacturing process , for more informed decision-making , predictive maintenance and product design changes .
“ Agility is super important today ,” Philippe says . “ And agility comes with a product change process that is super efficient and that is cutting across every discipline .”
Another area where serialised virtual twins could have interesting applications – with OEMs in particular – is aiding the work of field technicians . “ I ’ m absolutely convinced that the field technicians in the next 5 to 10 years will start preparing their intervention on-site based on the virtual twin specific to an equipment serial number ,” Philippe asserts . “ That is a revolution that is in the making right now .”
Field technicians play a critical role in OEM operations . They visit sites under gruelling time pressures , unaware of what state the machinery they ’ ll be interacting with is in . They rely on expertise they rarely write down or document , their knowledge and problem-solving skills making them a rare , in-demand resource . Field technicians are the unofficial ambassadors of the OEM . The quality and professionalism of a manufacturer is perceived through their work , work
which can be made significantly easier and more efficient through virtual twins .
A serialised virtual twin will give field technicians the power to discover everything about the machine they ’ ll be interacting with before arrival , interacting with useful data including instructions on the ideal approach and spare parts . Virtual twins built with large language models will allow technicians to ask questions and get immediate
62 August 2024