Digital Twins Set to Reshape Tech Industry

Digital solutions and services have a significant and real-time impact over the physical world. Digital twins' simulations, for example, enable developers to study the potential behavior of digital products, efficiently enhancing their development. These virtual replicas have the potential of reshaping the way tech companies operate, effectively enhancing efficiency, innovation and competitiveness across sectors. 

"The implementation of digital twins is not just a technological investment but also a shift in organizational culture. As this technology is adopted, it promotes a mindset of continuous improvement and a culture of innovation that involves all levels of the organization," says Rodrigo Cabot, Innovation and Development Manager, Ecosistemas. 

The implementation of digital twins within businesses’ operations can effectively optimize operational processes by monitoring performance in real time. Moreover, these virtual replicas allow organizations to try out future technological developments before releasing them to the public. This enables companies to predict potential technological failures and prevent them before they provoke financial costs. 

Digital twins also serve a collaborative function between employees. The platform where these digital twins unfold incentivizes communication between different departments, effectively enhancing an internal collaboration and improving decision making. Furthermore, digital twins’ platform allows companies to carry out digital simulations that can train employees on high-risk situations before confronting them in the real world. Additionally, these simulations can also be used to conduct training programs for new employees, substantially enhancing efficiency within the internal operation of businesses. 

Digital twins can benefit various industries in different ways. For example, aerospace companies can leverage the digital twins’ platform to simulate aircraft performance for pilots. Moreover, these virtual replicas can help identify potential aircraft issues while optimizing general maintenance in the physical world. In the manufacturing industry, factories can use digital twins to monitor production line efficiency and prevent equipment failures and potential supply chain interruptions. 

Digital twins are also being used for medical purposes, as this virtual platform allows to simulate human organs, enabling doctors to practice surgeries in a virtual, 3D modeled space. Additionally, the energy industry can also make use of this technology by leveraging it to optimize the performance of power generation plants’ and predict potential operational issues. 

“Digital twins contribute to the transformation of companies by accelerating the holistic understanding of their processes and optimal decision-making, as well as carrying out more effective actions. This technology uses real-time and historical data to represent the past and present and simulate predicted futures,” Alejandro Preinfalk, President and CEO, Siemens Mexico, tells MBN. 

The global digital twin market is expected to increase from US$10 billion in 2023 to US$110 billion by 2028, a CAGR growth of 61.3% during the period, according to Markets and Markets. This substantial development is mostly attributed to the benefits digital twins can bring to the manufacturing sector due to their predictive capabilities in relation to potential supply chain issues.  

Nevertheless, Mexico’s usage of digital twins could be determinant in helping the country capitalize its full nearshoring potential by optimizing logistics and transportation across the country. Mexico’s manufacturing industry could also benefit from this technology as a way to simulate and optimize manufacturing processes, predict maintenance needs and improve overall production efficiency.