Beitrag von ExpeditionFinance - Deutsche Bank

Transcript

You've probably heard the term "digital twin" a lot. How does a digital twin come about and what do I need it for? I always thought there could only be one. There can only be one J��rgen Schmitt. There are many J��rgen Schmitts, but there's only one "bank beard." Jokes aside, the term has been around since the 2000s. That's when people started making copies of physical objects, such as machines. A copy that can be tested, analyzed, and simulated. Let's see how this looks in reality at TRUMPF today. Alexandra, you manufacture industrial machine tools and lasers. Why do I still need a digital twin? For a long time, our development department has used simulation models to ensure the reliability of our machines' hardware. However, they're more than just hardware. There's also the software that runs all these processes. The combination of hardware and software determines how good our machines are. Smarter with the digital twin? How did you start working on digital twins? I've been working with simulations and mechanical modeling since graduating from college. We've been working on digital twins at TRUMPF for the last five years, so that we can add value to our development process. I see the machine, but where is the digital twin? This is our small, on-site smart factory, where customers see how high-bay warehouses and automation work together. We use virtual twins in advance to test software updates or to ensure that all the versions of our machines perform as they should because I can buy different versions of these machines with different options, and I don't want to have every single version here on site to test whether the software works or not. I can do all that with a simulation model. How has the production process changed, both for you and the customers? When we provide the customer with simulation models of their entire factory, they can determine which production processes are the most efficient. For us in development, we mainly use it for test automation, software calibration, and so forth. Now I'll see a more concrete example. Yes, Kevin will explain that to you. He's our virtual twin machine specialist. This is a sample piece to show the customer what the machines can do. For example, these shapes here, these grooves, and everything else. Door locks! Yes, all this can be done with a punch press. The suction cup took the sheet there, and the machine started punching it. It's an automated loading system. It grabs the right punching tool and starts shaping the contours. After the parts have been punched out, they're pulled in with this suction cup and stacked in this pile. Do you run the process through a digital twin again? Yes, I can show you that over here on the screen. Let's take a look at the stack formation in the virtual world. We have a programming error here. The stack was not formed correctly, which led to a collision here. We can then virtually configure this software. The stack was formed incorrectly? Yes, because there's a software error, but we can fix it virtually instead of having to punch out so much material in reality to find the error. Does the digital twin make your production more efficient? Yes, in both production and development, because the algorithms running the machine have to be developed. In the past, we used to shred a lot of steel to develop the algorithms. With the digital twin now, we can develop them virtually beforehand, which saves us a lot of steel. Once the algorithms have been developed, you can see how cleanly the stacks are formed. What do you think the future holds for digital twins? In the future, we want to run digital twins in parallel with each of our customers' machines, so that we can provide them with added value and services, such as allowing them to test their software in advance, as we saw on the machine, and to check if it works and if the stacks are formed correctly, and so on. Our future goal is to operate entire factories virtually. Where would you use digital twins? -What are the benefits? Let us know in the comments. -Until then.