Thomas Broadbent & Siemens: Retrofitting With Digital Twins

Thomas Broadbent, a UK leader in the manufacture of industrial centrifuges for over 160 years, stands at the cutting-edge of industry innovation today.

This family-owned business is committed to advancing its competitive edge through digital transformation, embracing Siemens's digital twin technology.

Facilitated by Siemens Digital Industries and CT Systems combined with strategic financial solutions from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) the company has been exploring a range of projects. 

Their latest project addresses the need to upgrade the Waldrich Coburg VTF 3500 portal milling centre.

This upgrade requires an approach that balances cost, minimises operational disruptions and enhances productivity.

The power of digital retrofitting

Thomas Broadbent ultimately decided to use digital twins for this retrofitting process, creating a complete virtual model of the milling machine.

This approach not only conserves resources by reducing carbon emissions and costs associated with manufacturing a new machine but also significantly boosts machine productivity.

Retrofitting with a digital twin allows for major workflow benefits.

For example, setups that would typically take three to four months of onsite work can now be condensed into a mere three to four weeks with limited operational downtime.

This tailored solution met Thomas Broadbent's their cash flow and capital needs, and emerged thanks to the collaboration between all parties involved.

Increasing business viability

“Digitalisation offers many advantages to OEM’s, retrofitters, and manufacturers such as enhanced efficiency, cost savings and innovation," says Mark Coombes, MTS Business Manager, Siemens Digital Industries.

"With all the digital tools available on Broadbent’s retrofit project, the transparency on machine performance allows far more informed decisions on OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and other analyses.

"It makes projects commercially possible through advanced technology which just a few years ago might have seemed very difficult to achieve or justify.”

With digital twin technology the retrofitting process from development to testing is all conducted off-site across roughly 12 months.

This pivot from traditional on-site upgrades means the affected machine can remain operational longer without risking production delays.

These technological advancements are supported robustly by financial structuring from SFS, providing Broadbent vital monetary flexibility.

The arrangement covers upfront costs via staged payments spread over three years post-installation, fitting neatly with Broadbent’s fiscal strategies and enabling them to spend thousands in order to upgrade their machinery.

“The digital twin capabilities make digital transformation possible at Broadbent without business interruption," says Chris Haigh, Managing Director of CT Systems.

"Digital transformation also means we can install a remote diagnostics and maintenance capability. In fact, this is something we are now installing on every project we do.

"Again, this is a game-changer. It means that we can manage diagnostics and support over the internet, with machine information flowing through to me from its sensor arrays.  It minimises time on site while improving the sensitivity of the service we can provide.”

Support from CT Systems & Siemens Financial Services

“The powerful combination of CT Systems expertise, Siemens components and digital twin software, and flexible financing from SFS is critical to make this project work financially as well as technically," says Matthew Durkin-Jones, Finance Director of Broadbent.

"The tailored solution that suited our cash flow and working capital requirements is symptomatic of the way all parties – ourselves, CT systems, Siemens and SFS – worked in close collaboration to bring things to a successful plan of action.”

Carolyn Newsham, Siemens Financial Services, adds: “The digital transformation imperative is being felt right across manufacturing industry.

"But we’re also in a tight economic period where input costs remain inflated. We’re totally committed at SFS to using our expertise to bring flexible financing arrangements which make these investments in modern capabilities affordable and financially sustainable.

"The structure we have put together for Broadbent is a leading example of what good should look like.”

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