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The global digital twin market is expected to witness rapid development in the coming years, thanks to its increased adoption by enterprises to effectively manage various critical activities of their business. As the term suggests, it is considered as a digital counterpart of a real-time or physical machine or process. It can be a computer program that is quite useful for conducting virtual simulations of a physical product or process to understand and estimate its future performance.

Several governments across the world are showing their support towards the development of advanced production technologies in the form of favorable initiatives and policies. Digital twins are becoming quite popular among companies as they help them analyze the future performance of an object or process, thereby saving a lot of money, time and effort for the organization. For instance, ORE Catapult and James Fisher Asset Information Services Ltd., in April 2020, announced a strategic alliance to use digital twin technology for effective offshore wind management.

The top trends that will bolster the global digital twin industry are given below:

Use of advanced technologies will drive digital twin industry in Europe:

Europe’s digital twin market size is anticipated to go past the valuation of $9.5 billion during the forecast period of 2020-2026. The region is widely known for the creation and use of advanced technologies across different industries. Digital twin technology has picked up pace in recent years in several countries across Europe because of the rising need for virtual technologies and high-end analytical tools to help build future processes across industries.

GHENOVA Ingenieria launched its own digital twin center named GHENOVA 360 in May 2020. The launch will help in the creation and deployment of naval systems and has enabled the company to deliver solutions to military ship manufacturers.

The automotive industry will use digital twins to improve product performance:

Digital twin technology will find increased application in the European automotive industry. The automotive sector will use this technology to analyze the performance of vehicles and make desired changes. It will help companies make improvements in the overall design and efficiency of the vehicles as well. Advanced technologies like AI, IoT and IIoT are being increasingly adopted to continuously enhance the driving experience for the owners. The use of digital twin technology even helps predict potential risks in vehicles and provides solutions for the same.

Germany’s role in the European digital twin industry :

Germany is known for its use of advanced technologies and will play a key role in the development of the digital twin market in Europe. Digitization is taking place on a large scale across different sectors like healthcare in the country. This has prompted the development of digital twin solutions among many domestic companies.

Siemens AG announced a partnership with Atos SE to create digital twin services for the pharmaceutical sector. Various technologies like AI, IoT and IIoT are being used in digital twin processes to analyze the overall efficiency in the production of pharmaceutical products and make improvements accordingly. The use of this advanced technology has helped increase the overall reliability and quality of processes.

Improved design and performance demand in North America:

North America’s digital twin market is expected to become worth nearly $1.5 billion in valuation over the coming years. There has been a growing need for improving the design and performance of the products and services among the regional producers. In fact, the product design and development application held a share of nearly 50% in the regional digital twin market in 2019. The demand for detecting faults beforehand and making significant improvements in the design and performance of the product has stimulated the need for using digital twins.

This technology helps in saving a lot of money, time and efforts of companies by speeding up the designing procedures which ultimately helps in launching new products at a faster rate.

North America aerospace and defense sector uses digital twin:

The aerospace and defense sector in North America will increasingly adopt digital twin technology through 2026. One of the main reasons for this substantial rise in demand is the need to reduce casualties and increase the efficiency of military weapons. Digital twin technology helps in creating virtual models of weapons and other components to understand their current status.

The data received from real-time machinery helps the advanced technology in detecting potential faults in these weapons and even helps in predicting the exact time when maintenance will be required. The aircraft industry is using digital twins of real airplanes and feeding them with real-time data to improve the reliability of their functioning and reduce the overall cost of maintenance. They effectively help in enhancing the performance of the airplanes as well.

The rise in industry 4.0 practices will foster APAC digital twin market:

The Asian Pacific digital twin market will become worth more than $11 billion in valuation by 2026. Industry 4.0 is seeing rapid adoption across different sectors and is helping them become digital in many ways. The use of digital twin technology will enable industries in bridging the gap between the virtual and physical world and will even play an important role in enhancing overall efficiency and productivity. Toyota had, for example, had displayed its concept of futuristic warehouses with digital twin in April 2019, having intelligent pre-trained forklifts and lean logistics.

Higher focus on process support and services in Asia Pacific:

Digital twin technology solutions will find increased application in process support and services segment in Asia Pacific region. The Asia Pacific digital twin market share from the application is anticipated to grow at 35% CAGR throughout the mentioned forecast timeline. Processes of several industries can be improved with the help of digital twins; they can even be used to reduce the overall maintenance costs by predicting faults beforehand. These efforts will improve customer experience, reduce overhead costs incurred in repair and maintenance and optimize manpower use in the manufacturing processes.

Some of the prominent companies involved in providing digital twin technology solutions across the world are Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, Siemens AG, PTC Inc., SAS Institute Inc., Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric and some others.

Ports across the globe have been slow to embrace digital technologies in comparison to other supply chain industries. Most container ports still rely heavily on manually operating massive container yards, which presents several challenges, especially in large ports.

The biggest port in the U.S., the Port of Los Angeles, handled 5,039,363 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2018 alone, for example. In ports of this size, finding a specific container would be a considerable challenge without technology.

Certainly, many obstacles faced by ports can be overcome with the introduction of technology. People, equipment, infrastructure and other critical assets can all be connected across the ports using Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as sensors and digital radios. This would not only improve productivity but also reduce operational costs in the future.

With a significant number of potential benefits, many may wonder why port operators are hesitant to embrace the Industrial IoT (IIoT). This is because many port operators focus on the cons of port automation as opposed to the long-term benefits of automating their key processes.

Emergence of the IIoT and Its Benefits

Industries across all sectors have taken advantage of the technology revolution, using IIoT devices to increase efficiency and reduce costs. IIoT devices are often more sensitive and precise than IoT devices, as they are often used in environments where precision is critical. Examples of these applications include the monitoring of health equipment, using robotics in factories, and analyzing data so users can better understand the performance of their operations.

A significant benefit of IIoT is that is has opened up opportunities to automate services for a number of industries, in particular ports. Automation can completely transform ports from mostly manual operations to a much more machine lead process, which can result in optimized operational productivity and efficiency.

Pros of Port Automation

The significant reduction in potential errors and the opportunity to introduce more services are just some of the reasons port automation will be an unmissable opportunity for many port operators. As many industries have already discovered, the pros certainly outweigh the cons when it comes to automation.

Increased efficiency is a significant benefit of port digitalization, with reports stating that productivity could rise by 10 to 35 percent. Examples include:

-Helping to predict and forecast demand by monitoring the arrival-and-departure patterns of container ships

-Easy to schedule the maintenance of equipment for optimal availability

-IIoT devices used to allocate equipment and frontline staff, as well as adjust the allocation in real-time

-Machine intelligence used to make plans ever more accurate

-Data collection standardized and used to help make ports and terminals more efficient

Port automation is also highly cost-effective; this is because while the initial start-up cost may be high, in the long-term operational expenses can fall by 25 to 55 percent. There are multiple reasons for this reduction in operating costs. For example, with the right network in place, operators can predict performance across the network, reducing human failures.

The landscapes of ports, in which their physical environment is structured and predictable, makes them a great platform to introduce new and innovative IIoT technologies. Ports are also able to generate large amounts of collected and processed data, which can be used by IIoT devices to increase efficiency and reduce costs massively.

Cons of Port Automation

The digitalization of ports is not without its drawbacks, though. Due to the ever-changing environment of ports, making sure data isn’t misaligned—or even absent—is extremely difficult. Any potential dead zones will prevent ports from collecting and exchanging information efficiently. This is particularly an issue for automated ports as unlike conventional ones, they can’t contain problems at individual functions or process steps, so there must always be close collaboration among activities.

Equally, with the extremely complex nature of ports, such as the necessary operational and security functions involved in the successful movement of cargo, the network used will need to be highly secure and highly mobile.

The initial investment cost of automation is exceptionally high with such a complex network being needed and is not affordable for every port, particularly those in developing nations. There are also potential updates that need to be considered to ensure ports can keep up with advancements in software. Ignoring these advancements could leave ports open to security breaches, which would be highly damaging.

On top of this, installing and maintaining an automated port requires a new skill set within the port industry. Finding these specialized technicians will not only be challenging but also costly for ports.

Enhancing the Pros, Reducing the Cons

Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh technology can provide robust and mobile-enabled connectivity that ports need to capitalize on the opportunities of IIoT fully. By using Rajant’s innovative BreadCrumb radio nodes with patented InstaMesh software protocol, connected port infrastructure has the ability to communicate wirelessly peer-to-peer, via multiple simultaneous connections. Information can be shared back and forth in a fully mobile, highly resilient web of communications.

Rajant’s BreadCrumb nodes are easy to install, as well as cost-effective. More BreadCrumbs can be introduced seamlessly to the network depending on the needs of the ports. The BreadCrumbs can also be directly deployed on a port asset—for example, a vehicle, quay crane, RTG, straddle carrier, light mast or drone—essentially turning that asset into a network node. These can then communicate not only with centralized access points but with other moving nodes within the network as well, meaning that all can share information back and forth in a highly interconnected web of communications—providing total network mobility.

DP World Antwerp

Rajant’s wireless Kinetic Mesh technology was chosen by BT to help form a wireless data backbone that could meet DP World Antwerp’s complex demands. Rajant’s “Make-Make-Make-Never-Break” method of forming connections played a significant role in this, ensuring that no connections have to be broken for new ones to be made, minimizing DP World Antwerp’s interference challenges.

What’s more, the Rajant network dynamically adapts to an autonomous, mobile environment of moving vehicles, such as containers or large ships, guaranteeing that DP World Antwerp can keep up with its ever-evolving, in-motion environment. Rajant’s ability to combine fixed, wireless, and mobile nodes together ensures that DP World Antwerp’s critical data always gets to where it needs to go–rapidly.

Handling more than 2.5 million containers every year, 3,000 trucks daily and almost 950 ships annually, it is vital that DP World can carry out its operations efficiently and effectively. With the help of Rajant and BT, DP World is now able to provide secure and resilient connectivity to 900 of its employees at Antwerp Gateway. Furthermore, DP World can analyze and optimize its processes and operations, such as the movement of vehicles around the terminal. This ensures that DP World Antwerp’s employees have an end-to-end view of operations, enabling timely analysis and decision making.

The Living Network of Tomorrow

In today’s competitive world, the demand for IIoT devices in ports will only increase. With the help of Rajant’s Breadcrumb nodes, which can be easily installed onto any object to turn it into an IIoT device, meeting this demand will become easier than ever.

By creating a living network such as this, port operators can protect their assets with proactive monitoring and improved situational awareness, whilst meeting the increasing demand to move a higher volume in and out of their ports.

With Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh technology, any potential cons associated with port automation will disappear, while the possibilities for the future of ports expand.

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Gary Anderson is senior vice president of Business Development with Rajant Corp., a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based provider of wireless telecommunication equipment. Anderson’s background includes several high-tech business start-ups, including the founding of AEI, where he served as president and CEO, and the director of sales at Vivato. Selling AEI in 2001, he was subsequently nominated by the Bush Administration to serve as the Assistant Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, after Sept. 11, 2001, he withdrew his nomination and volunteered to assist the White House in establishing he Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. The retired U.S. naval officer joined Rajant in January 2006.

Digital Twin Market: Top Impactful Trends Fostering the Industry Growth through 2026