Digital twinning
In Helsinki, Finland, patients are no longer required to visit hospitals for regular health check-ups.
Thanks to the concept of digital twinning, doctors are now able to monitor health fluctuations in patients, even after they have been discharged.
Through sensors the size of a Band-Aid, doctors can collect and analyze patients’ physiological data, and be alerted immediately to anomalies and relapses in patients’ health conditions.
These sensors are known as digital twins, which serve as a bridge between the physical and digital worlds.
A digital twin comprises three components: a data model, knowledge and a set of algorithms or analytics.
Apart from the healthcare sector, digital twinning business applications also exist in other sectors, such as manufacturing and logistics.
In manufacturing, factories use digital twins to simulate their production processes, manufacturing execution systems and supply chain systems. As a result, their assembly processes are improved, and some have reduced rework by 15 to 20 percent.
Similarly, in the logistics industry, digital twins are being used to simulate the entire supply chain with full data visibility to facilitate planning.
Companies are enticed by the concept of digital twinning because of its ability to improve business outcomes by understanding, predicting and optimizing three factors: customer experience, company assets and production processes.
For example, digital twinning lowers manufacturing and wastage costs by enabling a manufacturer to dispense with the physical prototyping of new product ideas.
Using fewer physical prototypes also allows firms to create more innovative product ideas and ensures that their products reach the go-to-market phase faster.
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