Digital twins represent the virtual replicas of the physical assets and processes. These are equipped with IoT sensors and constantly receive real-time data from the physical objects. With their use in monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics, digital twins can be extremely powerful to drive innovation and performance in manufacturing. Here are some ways manufacturing can use digital twins

* Engineering companies first create digital twins even before the physical product is manufactured. By feeding real-time data to the digital twins, the product design is constantly improved

* By feeding product usage data and different use case scenarios into digital twins companies can improve their ability to provide customization options to meet customer requirements. This brings them closer to ‘mass customized products’

* By getting a clearer picture of real-world performance and operating conditions, manufacturers can leverage digital twins to optimize their uptime and minimize repair costs