DECEMBER - JANUARY8MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSIN MY OPINIONDigital twins are increasingly espoused as an effective means of improving the efficiency of manufacturing plants and minimising their associated carbon footprint.Indeed, the link between the digitisation paradigm and its impact (on both business and the environment) is sometimes regarded as self-evident or obvious. This sentiment is often fortified by the promise of things like high-fidelity measurement, on-line monitoring and scenario analysis; all to yield performance-improving insights. However, simply having access to more data, metrics and analytical capability does not in and of itself guarantee an improvement, let alone support a business case for the implementation of such a platform.The global digital twin market is projected to grow substantially over the next decade. Some reports have valued the market at around USD 8.6 billion in 2022 with projected growth through USD 11.51 billion in 2023 and up to over USD 137 billion by 2030. However, the projected spend of others is not evidence of a return on investment for you. Indeed, history has no shortage of market-led IT-related paradigms that have resulted in financially unfavourable outcomes for some companies. Arguably, in many cases, the absence of a quality realistic business case (with ROI determination) is a likely common factor.So the question then becomes, `What specifically could you target with a digital twin that could increase your likelihood of identifying opportunities for improvement and for making an impact?'NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE CAPACITY FOR WASTE REDUCTIONAn established ever-present but appealing pathway is the identification and reduction of waste. As the reduction of waste and the improvement of yield and efficiency all have clear established links to profitability, they have long been a focus of the manufacturing industry. These concepts and their subsequent emerging frameworks are far from novel. The essence of the Lean Manufacturing paradigm is the `systematic elimination of waste'.SO, WHAT SPECIFICALLY COULD DIGITAL TWINS OFFER IN THIS SPACE THAT COULD JUSTIFY THE REQUIRED INVESTMENT?The answer to this question depends in part on the initial level of the `maturity' of the manufacturing plant (in terms of informatics, automation and energy management programs). Plants of lower maturity have typically (and by definition) not yet identified and exhausted the easy wins (low hanging fruit) especially in the context of energy efficiency and emissions reduction. In such cases the offering and potential impact of digital twins are By Dr Michael Lees, Control & Automation Manager, Carlton & United BreweriesUSING DIGITAL TWINS TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: THE IDENTIFICATION OF NON-PRODUCTIVE EMISSIONSDr Michael Lees
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