Digital transformation is accelerating quickly within the manufacturing sector, with the advent of the ‘Industrial Metaverse’ and progress of technologies such as generative AI creating game-changing new opportunities for organisations.
Here, Jerome Bull explores the revolutionary potential of this transformation and examines the role industry leaders need to play in adapting organisational cultures and workforces to embrace the growing opportunities.
A new frontier in manufacturing
The Industrial Metaverse is a virtual world that mirrors and replicates the physical environment, enabling real-time and immersive interactions.
It integrates a range of advanced technologies – including AI, digital twins, extended reality, and blockchain – to help organisations better understand, simulate, and predict outcomes in the real world.
The potential benefits for manufacturers are substantial, including:
- Process optimisation: enhancing business processes through improved planning and execution.
- Sustainability initiatives: supporting organisations in implementing more sustainable practices.
- Innovative problem-solving: enabling quicker and more cost-effective testing and experimentation in physics-based virtual environments.
While we are yet to see the Industrial Metaverse in its fullest form, the rapid development of its building blocks means that it is closer than ever.
The centrality of digital twins
At the heart of the Industrial Metaverse lies the concept of digital twins – virtual representations of objects or systems that accurately reflect their physical counterparts in both appearance and behaviour.
Digital twins are revolutionising areas such as product development by making it more efficient, flexible, and cost-effective.
Traditionally, product development involved creating physical prototypes and conducting extensive testing – a time-consuming and expensive process. With digital twins, companies can now develop and test products virtually using sophisticated simulation and modelling software. This approach significantly reduces costs and accelerates time-to-market.
Once a product design is finalised, the next challenge is manufacturing. Again, digital twins are revolutionising how this is approached.
Historically, production cells were usually planned using physical mock-ups constructed from materials like cardboard. Engineers would simulate the setup by arranging these mock-ups to visualise and test space requirements and workflows.
Now, manufacturers can design and optimise production processes entirely through software simulations, with digital twins enabling the replication of entire manufacturing facilities to improve design and operational efficiency.
Advanced software and VR technologies allow for photo-realistic, three-dimensional replicas of production setups. By using VR headsets, engineers and operators can immerse themselves in the virtual environment, making real-time adjustments to equipment placement, sequencing, and ergonomics. For instance, they can identify if a workstation is positioned too high or if the sequence of components needs reordering to optimise efficiency.
A notable example of digital twins in action is a ‘digital native’ factory that Siemens has built in Nanjing, China. The entire plant’s performance was simulated using a digital twin before any construction commenced, allowing engineers to identify issues that traditional methods might have overlooked – such as the improper placement of a painting machine without adequate ventilation. The digital twin continues to optimise the plant now it is in operation. The result: a 200% increase in manufacturing capacity and 20% improvement in productivity.
These approaches can also significantly reduce lead times; what once took months using physical prototypes can now be accomplished in weeks or even days using Industrial Metaverse technologies.
AI informing decision-making
Another critical aspect of the Industrial Metaverse is the integration of AI, particularly generative AI. The rapid recent advances in AI and its mainstream adoption have opened many new possibilities in manufacturing, especially in how data from assets is mined and utilised to inform better decision-making.
The combination of abundant data availability and powerful AI algorithms is transforming raw data into actionable insights. These algorithms can now analyse masses of data generated by equipment to assess performance and predict potential failures and create proactive solutions that increase productivity and optimise maintenance schedules.
For example, if a machine consumes more energy than usual or operates at reduced efficiency, AI systems can flag these anomalies for further investigation. This predictive maintenance enables operators (or the machines themselves) to address issues proactively, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.
An example of this in practice (albeit not in a manufacturing scenario) is the Thameslink rail line in London. The fleet of intelligent trains evaluate nine million pieces of performance data each week. The trains then anticipate maintenance needs and autonomously initiate work orders.
Implications for human capital and leadership
The Industrial Metaverse presents significant implications for human capital. Achieving the full potential of this transformation and the new technology on offer requires workforce adaptation and organisational change, driven by strong leadership that has a clear vision of the end goals and desired outcomes.
In particular, the successful introduction of such revolutionary new digital tools necessitates a culture that is ready and willing to embrace change. Employees will need to be trained to maximise the benefits of these tools and, perhaps most importantly, need to be reassured that the technology is designed to augment rather than replace human capabilities.
Leaders of this digital transformation must therefore be able to articulate and champion the importance and benefits of adopting the Industrial Metaverse across all levels of the business.
A transformative period
We are entering a historic point in the long-term evolution of the manufacturing sector. Advanced digital technologies are changing the way that many core practices are approached, with substantial new efficiency, sustainability, and innovation opportunities up for grabs.
Embracing these opportunities requires not only investment in digital tools but also strong leadership that can drive through cultural change and engage and prepare workforces for some radically different ways of working.
To find out how we can help your leadership prepare to make the most out of the Industrial Metaverse, get in touch.