Virtual Prototyping: Evaluating the Digital Twin Based Virtual Factory for New Product Introduction

Emre Yildiz*, Charles Møller, Arne Bilberg, Jonas Kjær Rask

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Shortening lifecycles and increasing complexity make product and production lifecycle processes more challenging than ever for manufacturing enterprises. Virtual Prototyping (VP) technologies promise a viable solution to handle such challenges in reducing time and physical builds as well as increasing quality. In previous studies, the Digital Twin (DT) based Virtual Factory (VF) concept showed significant potential to handle co-evolution by integrating 3D factory and product models with immersive and interactive 3D Virtual Reality (VR) simulation technology as well as real-time bidirectional data synchronisation between virtual and physical production systems. In this article, we present an extension to the paper “Demonstrating and Evaluating the Digital Twin Based Virtual Factory for Virtual Prototyping” presented at CARV2021. The study presents an evaluation by industry experts of the DT based VF concept for VP in the context of New Product Introduction (NPI) processes. The concept is demonstrated in two cases: wind turbine blade manufacturing and nacelle assembly operations at Vestas Wind Systems A/S. The study shows that the VF provides an immersive virtual environment, which allows the users to reduce the time needed for prototyping. The industry experts propose several business cases for the introduced solution and find that the phases that would have the most gain are the later ones (production) where the product design is more mature.

Original languageEnglish
Article number163
JournalComplex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly
Volume29
Issue29
Pages (from-to)1-16
Number of pages16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • Digital Twin
  • Industry 4.0
  • Simulation and Modeling
  • Virtual Factory
  • Virtual Prototyping
  • Virtual Reality

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Virtual Prototyping: Evaluating the Digital Twin Based Virtual Factory for New Product Introduction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this