The Twin Effect on Derisking Supply Chains
McDermott International is an oil rig construction company working out of Houston in the U.S. It has used digital twinning technologies to create a range of sustainability products available to customers as a new revenue stream.
Its VesselXT solution collects IoT data from physical assets and systems on an oil rig. It combines this with design modeling tools that can deliver low carbon footprints, a process that would not be possible without using IoT, cloud, data lakes, and analytics.
McDermott originally created these products for internal use, but software customers are now asking to use them as the energy industry is under pressure to minimize its carbon footprint.
Supply chain risk
The digital twin concept enables the understanding of the cause and effect of different factors on the physical performance of assets, and its use is also extending to supply chain management.
Recent disruptions, from the pandemic to the Suez Canal closure to the Ukrainian War, have exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains and created a broader understanding of the range of factors that can have an impact.
Resilient supply chains should be dynamic, responsive, and interconnected to an organization’s ecosystem and processes. It requires end-to-end visibility, real-time insights, and decisive actions — particularly in escalating situations.
“It’s creating a vertical replica of all the componentry – the robotics, the equipment that actually fills the bottles for drugs, and understanding the maintenance schedule instead of relying on a logbook”
Digital twins present a crucial solution to better understanding the supply chain and the impact of variable factors. They are perhaps the best current examples of where exponential technologies and connectivity meet to deliver practical insight.
The idea has been seized on by significant technology companies offering it through the ‘as a service model’, with Google — in one example — launching its Supply Chain Twin service last year.
The module aggregates data from multiple sources — from in-house ERP systems and those of suppliers and partners plus weather, shipping, and customer data — to model reality and understand how variables will impact.
Global use cases
A look around the world shows digital twins in action in several industries.
In Spain, the food processing company Campofrio uses machine learning technologies as part of its sales forecasting process. These insights are part of a digital twin project in collaboration with Accenture and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which assesses the resilience and strength of its supply chain by replicating banking stress tests.
In Japan, vehicle services company UD Trucks has launched a data platform that uses digital twinning to prototype testing to identify engineering and supply chain issues more rapidly, improving the quality of engineering products and optimizing the supply chain.
The company already uses virtual and augmented reality in its design process, and its data-sharing infrastructure creates a smoother flow of work through the manufacturing and operational processes.
Australian blood products company CSL is creating a digital twin of the AUD130 billion company’s labs and equipment, which can predict and prevent when componentry will fail. This initiative will shore up the stability of the supply chain.
“It’s creating a vertical replica of all the componentry – the robotics, the equipment that actually fills the bottles for drugs, and understanding the maintenance schedule instead of relying on a logbook,” CSL’s Mark Hill told the Australian Financial Review in April.
Perhaps the most advanced digital twin project is the Virtual Singapore model, enabling authorities to plan emergency evacuation routes, guide traffic, and even identify likely dengue outbreaks.
This might not be a direct supply chain application. Still, a smarter city is also a city that better enables business continuity, and this, ultimately, is what the Singapore project can deliver.
The common features of these initiatives are the use of the cloud, AI or ML analytics, sensors, multiple data sources, and optimized connectivity.
In time, and probably soon, these twins will be part of every organization’s analytic process as they combine and leverage digital tools to drive sustainability and resilience in an increasingly volatile world environment.
Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves through digital technology to solve existing issues and change their entire business models. You can reach him at [email protected].
Image credit: iStockphoto/zimmytws
