Industry Leader Siemens Is Betting Big On Digital Twins Technology!

Digital twin technology comes with a host of benefits for businesses, with the primary advantage being savings – in terms of both time and costs.

To clarify, digital twins are virtual representations of physical assets and are used to track and monitor their performance in real-time using sensors, while also predicting potential maintenance requirements.

Essentially, they help businesses maintain and manage their assets as well as predict problems before they become costly affairs, also enabling better layout and resource planning.

Safe to say, the technology is finding greater applications every day across industries such as construction, energy, healthcare, consumer products, aerospace, automotive and more.

This is probably why technology giant Siemens is pushing hard in the digital twin sector, with various moves including tie-ups and updates to its offerings.

So, what did Siemens do? Let’s explore!
 

How Are Siemens And Heineken Leveraging Digital Twin Technology?

 

• In an announcement made by Siemens, the company revealed that it was partnering with internationally renowned brewer Heineken for a multi-phase decarbonization program at Heineken’s production sites.

• The idea is to achieve significant energy savings and a 50% reduction of CO2 across over 15 sites around the world by 2025.

• An initial collaboration that included consulting, auditing and advisory services and used an energy digital twin to simulate the brewery in a virtual state found that 70% of the energy used came from the heating and cooling process.

• As such, to find solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, Siemens will make use of operational data, digital twins and software from its Xcelerator portfolio to prepare a scalable program for Heineken.

• Furthermore, the partnership includes a five-year performance and monitoring service contract with Siemens.

• Dolf van den Brink, Heineken CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, said, "Undertaking these challenges with partners like Siemens allows us to bring in technical expertise and industry knowledge to innovate quickly and at scale.”

• Matthias Rebellius, Managing Board Member of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure, said, “Working with HEINEKEN as a partner in this way demonstrates a thoroughly modern approach to data-driven decarbonization. By collaborating on an end-to-end program, we’re able to combine hardware, software and analytics to predict and deliver the long-term results which are now crucial to every industry.”

   

How Are Siemens And UL Solutions Leveraging Digital Twin Technology?

 

• “Siemens and UL Solutions redefine future of certification process with groundbreaking digital-twin technology” read the title of another announcement made by Siemens. 

• History was made as Siemens and UL Solutions’ collaboration was the first time an industrial product was certified partly through digital simulations in the US. Later, the simulation was verified and validated with physical testing.

• Cedrik Neike, CEO Digital Industries and Managing Board Member at Siemens, said, “Siemens’ digital twin technology is rewriting the rules of innovation. This collaborative effort with UL Solutions is a testament to our dedication to a future in which innovation knows no bounds.”

• Jennifer Scanlon, President and CEO of UL Solutions, said, “The certification process relies on physical testing. Now, digital simulations integrated with traditional methodologies can redefine how our customers approach testing and certification and open new avenues for precision and efficiency.”

   

What Updates Did Siemens Announce?

 

• In an announcement made by Siemens, the company introduced the latest updates to its Simcenter Flotherm, a part of its Xcelerator portfolio of industry software, which brings secure thermal digital twin technology to the electronics supply chain.

• As per the announcement, the breakthrough Embeddable Boundary Condition Independent Reduced Order Model (BCI-ROM) technology allows chipmakers to generate accurate models that can be shared “for use in down-stream high-fidelity 3D thermal analysis without exposing the IC’s internal physical structure.”

• Essentially, the main benefits include protecting intellectual property, enhancing supply chain collaboration and accuracy of models for steady state and transient thermal analysis.

• Jean-Claude Ercolanelli, Sr. VP, Simulation and Test Solutions, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said, “Our breakthrough new technology enables accurate thermal models to be shared securely within the electronics supply chain without exposing sensitive intellectual property, allowing all parties to resolve thermal issues faster and bring advanced products to market more quickly.”

 
Looking at all Siemens has achieved in the last few days, it’s safe to say digital twin technology sweeps up many benefits for businesses, manufacturers and even government agencies engaged in infrastructure development.

It’s no surprise that the company’s CEO, Roland Busch, addressed the technology in his keynote speech at CES 2024. Furthermore, he even mentioned how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is shaping the future of digital twin technology not only at Siemens but across industries.

Roland Busch, CEO Siemens AG, said, “With Generative AI and the Industrial Metaverse, we all can accelerate innovation, accelerate sustainability, and accelerate access to technology. And this is what the world needs, now. Speed and scale, to solve the big challenges.”

Do you think digital twin simulation will play a key role for product certifications in the near future? Will Siemens lead the digital twin technology revolution in manufacturing and other industries?

Let us know in the comments below!