How digital twins drive real-world outcomes for organisations

Digital twins have emerged as a transformative concept that offers unprecedented opportunities for organisations to monitor, analyse and optimise their operations. However, the term “digital twin” is often misunderstood or oversimplified, leading to confusion about its true value and application. In this blog series, we will demystify the concept of digital twins, particularly in the organisational context, explore their advantages and challenges, and assess Mood’s innovative approach to creating agile digital twins that enables organisations to achieve enhanced clarity, consistency and rapid optimisation.   

Real-life example: Creating an early digital twin of a manufacturing shop floor 

Early in my career, I embarked on a project that would essentially become a digital twin of a manufacturing shop floor and associated processes. This experience was a formative one, laying the groundwork for my current understanding of how digital representations can drive efficiency, insight and optimisation in real-world operations.   

The challenge: Optimising production, maintenance & testing processes 

The manufacturing facility I worked at produced fire detectors, and the shop floor was a bustling environment where efficiency and quality were paramount. However, managing the maintenance of machines and the rigorous testing of the manufactured products presented significant manual processes and thus challenges. The facility needed a system that could not only track and manage these processes but provide insights into potential issues before they became critical.   

The solution: A digital model using Microsoft Visio, SharePoint, InfoPath & Raspberry Pis 

Visualisation with Visio

To tackle these challenges, I created a visual model of the shop floor using Microsoft Visio. This model detailed the layout of the shop floor, with the various machines and their specific roles in the manufacturing process. The visual representation served as a foundation for what would later evolve into a more sophisticated digital twin.   

Data management with SharePoint 

To bring this model to life, I used Microsoft SharePoint to create data lists that held critical information about the machines, maintenance schedules and test results. These data lists became the backbone of the system, feeding data into the Visio model, allowing it to be more than just a static diagram.   

Interactive user interfaces with InfoPath

For the maintenance and test engineers, I developed user interfaces using Microsoft InfoPath. These interfaces enabled them to input data related to maintenance schedules, findings, test results and general information. Engineers could also report incidents such as unexpected machine downtimes directly into the system. This data entry was crucial, as it provided the real-time updates necessary for the model to reflect the current state of the shop floor accurately.   

Data capture with Raspberry Pis 

To further enhance the system’s capabilities, data collected directly from the machines using Raspberry Pis, such as throughput rates, machine performance metrics and any deviations from expected operation was fed into the SharePoint lists via CSV files periodically. This integration of what was essentially an early form of IoT devices was a critical step towards creating a more responsive and accurate digital representation of the shop floor.   

The outcome: A digital twin of the shop floor processes 

What emerged from these efforts was, in essence, a digital twin of the manufacturing shop floor. This system provided near-real time dashboards that displayed the status of the machines and their key metrics. Engineers could gauge which machines were approaching tolerance levels for throughput or which production lines were close to failing quality tests.    

Reflection: Realising the concept of a digital twin 

By visualising the shop floor, integrating near-real time data and enabling interactive user interfaces, I was able to create a system that mirrored the physical world and provided actionable insights to improve efficiency, quality and maintenance in the form of what is now known to be a digital twin. This early project taught me the importance of digital representation in driving real-world outcomes and laid the foundation for my ongoing work in developing and advocating for a flexible, agile platform that can be adapted to any organisational domain and enable rapid turnaround without the need to cobble together several tools.  

How Mood can help 

For organisations lacking the confidence to build their own digital twin from scratch, Mood consultants work directly with customers to equip them with the necessary skills to progress towards an agile, data-driven future. For further insights, download our full whitepaper “Understanding Digital Twins” or Contact Mood today to find out more.

Stay tuned for the next blog in this three-part series, where we’ll dive into the characteristics of digital twins including their advantages, challenges and what organisations can expect from them.