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A Swiss Army Knife and the Industrial Metaverse: More in common than you think Siemens Read this article on LinkedIn to join the conversation
Read bringing a new product to market usually takes years. But what if developing and making the product requires the building of a new facility?
What if the competition is so fierce that innovation life cycles are continuously accelerating — and the envisioned product risks becoming obsolete before production even begins?
Think about the EV battery business. It usually takes almost three years for a battery facility to be built and for production to start.
A lot of tech and business evolution can occur in three years.
One new way of handling such unpredictability is already delivering benefits to users: the industrial metaverse, or what I like to call the “Swiss Army knife of design and simulation.” Using this multifunction tool, organizations can simulate a product and continually update its design, software, manufacturing processes, even the entire production facility.
Talk of the industrial metaverse has seemed to recede from the mainstream technology discourse over the past 12 months.
The topic has perhaps been drowned out by the tidal wave of coverage of AI and GenAI, which has driven many organizations to focus on pioneering and testing pilots of these tools in their operations. However, there’s been no shortage of new industrial metaverse partnerships, including initiatives involving major players like NVIDIA, Siemens, Microsoft, and AWS.
These collaborations aim to create an industrial metaverse platform that transcends the basic digital twin concept.
Roland Busch and Rev Lebaredian at Hannover Fair 2024.Industrial metaverses capitalize on NVIDIA Omni verse’s immersive engine,
Siemens’ simulation tools, and the power of cloud computing and AI provided by AWS.
A notable development is the partnership between Siemens and Sony aimed at introducing a new immersive engineering solution that combines Sony’s head-mounted display with Siemens’ Accelerator software.
It’s encouraging that industrial metaverses are making strides in manufacturing operations, such as in the production facilities of BMW, Siemens, and battery manufacturer Freyer.
Exponential growth in applications may be widely expected, but merging real-life environment data with IT data to create powerful simulation and collaborative tools requires meticulous data integration and time. Nonetheless, significant outcomes are emerging.
Another great example, the electronics manufacturer, reported improvements in productivity, flexibility, energy costs, and carbon emissions of up to 20% by being able to simulate the entire manufacturing plant, including layouts, machine footprints, and the entire value flow.
This virtual model can be updated with real-life data and adjusted accordingly.
Another notable example is the strategic partnership between Siemens and Mercedes-Benz.
They have jointly developed a digital energy twin to enhance the integration of energy efficiency and sustainability measures in factory designs and upgrades. In Mercedes’ Factory 56 in Sindelfingen, Germany, this twin significantly reduces early phase planning time. But single digital twins and single plant digital metaverses may just be scratching the surface.
In a previous article, I envisioned that the true power of industrial metaverses lies in connecting them to an immersive virtual world encompassing OEMs, suppliers, customers, and service providers. In 2023, IDC’s Global Product and Service Innovation Survey found that 25% of manufacturing respondents have been already leveraging industrial metaverse environments for engineering, manufacturing, and service collaboration. Islands of virtualized production, such as those of BMW, Freyer, and Siemens, have been established — but this should be only the beginning. As the hype subsides, diligent effort is required.
Siemens and Mercedes Due to their clear and proven benefits,
I anticipate the swifter development of industrial metaverse platforms.
The surge of GenAI into manufacturing and supply chain organizations may momentarily overshadow this technology.
Nonetheless, organizations are seeking solutions that help reduce costs, accelerate innovation through collaboration, and ensure secure data exchange, among other benefits.2024 may turn out to be another year dominated by news about GenAI, but it does not diminish the significance of the industrial metaverse.
On the contrary, AI and GenAI technologies enhance the industrial metaverse by providing users with generative design capabilities and machine operation and programming via natural language, and by introducing new ways for humans to leverage IT and OT data.
Need evidence of the importance of the industrial metaverse? Check out the opening day of Hannover Fair 2024, where Siemens CEO Roland Busch and Rev Lebaredian, vice president of NVIDIA Omniverse and simulation technology at NVIDIA, demonstrated a strong commitment to industrial metaverse technology. Check out how AI & digital twins enable the industrial metaverse.