Virtual Twins, OEMs and Why Manufacturing’s Future is 3D

If you live in London and walked through Piccadilly Circus earlier this April, you may have noticed something above the sensory overload of the city. A 780-metre-screen, displaying a giant, three-dimensional industrial robot, claw retracting as it rapidly completed tasks. You may have lingered, watching the screen shift to an eco-futurist imagining of tomorrow, a fusion of forward-thinking tech and green foliage before ending on an astronaut, peering down from the depths of space. 

This augmented reality installation, the #3DExperience, was a message to manufacturers and the world: The future is digital, the future is 3D, and we’re here to help you grasp it. This message was delivered by the French multinational corporation Dassault Systèmes, a company at the forefront of 3D product design, simulation and manufacturing with its innovative digital and virtual twins.

Most manufacturers have heard of digital twins, which are identical simulations of real-world objects, systems and processes. In fact, a majority are implementing- or planning to implement- the technology. Info-Tech Research Group found that in late-2023 69% of manufacturers were leveraging digital twin technology, and 97% of manufacturers thought digital twin solutions were important to their organisation. A report by Mordor Intelligence also found that The Global Digital Twin Market size is estimated at US$26.14bn in 2024, and is expected to reach US$125.89 bn by 2029.

This investment is driven by digital twins' capacity to revolutionise manufacturers' design, testing and deployment processes, making them well-known innovations across the sector.

But fewer know of virtual twins.

Phillipe Bartissol, VP of Industrial Equipment at Dassault Systèmes wants to change this, sharing the technology’s revolutionary simulation, testing and engineering benefits while explaining why it's a game changer for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

What is a virtual twin? 

Philippe manages Dassault Systèmes' broader industrial systems, overseeing everything from production machines including stationary robots and AMRs, to heavy mobile machinery in the construction and agriculture fields to, as he casually informs me, the entire tyre industry.

Phillipe finds fulfilment in advancement and transformation, excited by the prospect of proactively delivering new, tailored solutions to clients. “Moving the lines is what I like doing,” he says. “Moving the lines with purpose, anticipating what our customers want, and seeing things that we could be doing that our customers are not yet asking for.” 

Virtual Twins embody this description. Like digital twins, they are duplicates of a real-world object, but unlike them, they offer real-time performance feedback and the capacity to run dynamic, real-world simulations. Virtual twins enable manufacturers to fine-tune workflows, processes and equipment for enhanced efficiency, whilst gaining deep insights into potential vulnerabilities and optimisation opportunities. 

“So this model is multidisciplinary and multi-simulation,” Philippe says. “ It is also multi-scale, meaning that we go from atoms to complete plans. We try to do all this on one platform, that's the difference we make between virtual twins and digital twins. “ Virtual twins allow for re-simulation and pre-simulation. Events that have already occurred can be ‘restaged’ so to speak, allowing manufacturers to observe and understand every interconnected aspect. Anticipated future situations and possibilities can also be tested, allowing for proactive planning and improvements.

Dassault Systemes has been proactive too, building partnerships with its virtual twins. These include their ongoing partnership with luxury automotive manufacturer JLR to deliver the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This digital twins platform has enhanced how JLR engineers, manufacturers and designs its cars. At Hannover Messe, Dassault Systemes also collaborated with the Japanese company OMRON to develop a virtual twin of an OMRON autonomous production solution. Illustrating the efficiency and planning benefits of virtual simulation, the virtual twin allowed users to ensure both the manufacturing execution system and the fleet management software for the AMRs were working coherently.

Phillipe, true to his philosophy of wanting to push the line further, sees further opportunities with virtual twins and Operational Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). “ Dassault Systemes is one, if not the industry leader for engineering,” he says.“ We are as strong in manufacturing as we are in engineering, and one of my transformation missions is to develop the company’s offering for after-sales service.”  

Virtual twins helping OEM business development 

Philippe sees digital twins as an important means to address changing economic models in the manufacturing industry. Digital transformation, accelerated by the COVID-19 Pandemic and hiring crisis has digitised processes and driven a shift in consumer expectations and manufacturing operations.

Bain & Company recently highlighted how this shift is impacting OEMs, and how competitive organisations will focus on selling tailored software-as-a-service as opposed to products. 

Phillipe sees two critical areas where virtual twins can transform OEM operations and help them embrace this new model. The first is through implementing the technology into industrial products and software-defined equipment. The second is through business transformation.

The Aeroplane and Defence industry has seen business transformation through virtual twins. For manufacturers in this industry, the ability to simulate scenarios without real-world costs and risks is transformative, helping them better meet responsibilities to suppliers and customers. Virtual twins also ensure the overall maintenance of operations which is essential for these manufacturers' bottom line.

Virtual twins also offer a more sustainable method to design and test equipment, with no physical waste involved in the process, something which Phillipe says has driven up interest even more. “They’re also interested in sustainability, with the SUSTAIner project,” he says. “ In this industry, it’s super important, and companies such as Airbus and others are starting to realise that.” The biggest profitability engine in OEMs is after-sales service. As Phillipe says, OEMs “ Usually make between 20% for the lowest to 60%, the highest of their revenue in after-sales service.” So not only will virtual twins help OEMs enhance their business, but they will also help them achieve their biggest KPI- enhancing machine efficiency to raise revenue. 

“If this really takes off then the OEMs have an increased responsibility in the performance of the equipment,” Phillipe explained,  envisioning a future where manufacturers not only have virtual twins but serialised virtual twins. Serialised twins are virtual twins that are tailored to a specific piece of equipment, with incredible applications in the areas of product life cycle management and the work of field technicians. 

Serialised twins: Shaping product life cycle management & the work of field technicians 

“When you think about the word PLM, product life cycle management, until a recent period, we didn’t understand the full meaning of that word,” Phillipe says. “The product life cycle is up to the removal and the recycling of the product. It's not when the machine is exiting the plant, the life of the equipment is actually at the customer's starting time.” 

Virtual twins can be utilised at every step of this process, being tailored to specific products and customers to streamline processes and reduce waste. Manufacturers will be able to leverage assets or virtual twins created in the engineering and manufacturing process, for more informed decision-making, predictive maintenance and product design changes.

“ Agility is super important today,” Phillipe adds. “And agility comes with a product change process that is super efficient and that is cutting across every discipline.” 

Another area where serialised virtual twins could have interesting applications - with OEMs in particular - is aiding the work of field technicians. “I'm absolutely convinced that the field technicians in the next 5 to 10 years will start preparing their intervention on-site based on the virtual twin specific to an equipment serial number.” Phillipe asserts. “ That is a revolution that is in the making right now.” 

Field technicians play a critical role in OEM operations. They visit sites under gruelling time pressures, unaware of what state the machinery they’ll be interacting with is in. They rely on expertise they rarely write down or document, their knowledge and problem-solving skills making them a rare, in-demand resource. Field technicians are the unofficial ambassadors of the OEM. The quality and professionalism of a manufacturer is perceived through their work, work which can be made significantly easier and more efficient through virtual twins.

A serialised virtual twin will give field technicians the power to discover everything about the machine they’ll be interacting with before arrival, interacting with useful data including instructions on the ideal approach and spare parts. Virtual twins built with large language models will allow technicians to ask questions and get immediate answers with sources attached. The field technician will arrive significantly better equipped to resolve problems, leading to increases in productivity and speed.

Phillipe sees further applications for AI in this area, as the virtual twin will need to stay updated after the work is done. When you have 24/7 access to a digital duplicate of a product, and the ability to constantly test, refine and redesign it, the work is never done. That isn’t as dystopian as it sounds. In a world where digital technologies have enabled enhanced customisability, continuous self-improvement is the biggest way OEMs- and all manufacturers- can stay competitive. 

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