Digital Twins at a Glance

Digital twin technology is now mature enough to unlock new possibilities for all kinds of industries. Many companies want to harness this potential but do not quite know where to start. To give you an overview of the topic, we present the different types and levels of digital twins on this page and give examples of research questions that we are working on at Fraunhofer IPK.

Product twins are digital representations of real, individual assets. They contain data across the life cycle and provide insights into product behavior and optimization potentials. With their help, data can for example be exchanged between companies. Products can be planned proactively as well as monitored and optimized in all phases of their life cycle, for instance regarding their ecological footprint or energy efficiency.

Contact

Theresa Riedelsheimer | +49 30 39006-219 
theresa.riedelsheimer@ipk.fraunhofer.de

Digital twins of manufacturing technologies, machines and systems reflect the current status during production. This allows us to record and control the energy efficiency of production systems automatically or identify the need for servicing early on and support maintenance with the help of context-sensitive assistance tools.

Contact

Claudio Geisert | +49 30 39006-133
claudio.geisert@ipk.fraunhofer.de

Digital process twins connect factory operations with corporate business processes. This allows us to examine systems as a whole and gain important insights, for example for production planning or business models, based on a solid foundation of data.

Contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Knothe | +49 30 39006-195 
thomas.knothe@ipk.fraunhofer.de