Digital Twins and Their Adoption Across Industries

Technological advances in areas such as connectivity and computing have facilitated the concept of an important Industry 4.0 enabler – the digital twin. A digital twin is a dynamic virtual representation of an entity that acts upon data regarding the entity’s condition to diagnose past failures, visualize the current status, and predict future scenarios. The entities on which digital twins are modeled may include products and systems undergoing design and development, processes that manufacture these products, supply-chain networks and supporting infrastructure, or processes for post-production services during a product’s or system’s operational stages.

The use of digital twins has been gaining traction across industries, with leading technology companies developing solutions for personalized implementation. Different industries have varying degrees of knowledge about their core systems, products, and processes, and, hence, the derived value of digital twins varies across industries.

This viewpoint provides insights on the digital twin technology, its leverage across six industries experiencing considerable adoption, and potential applicability in the future.