Digital Twin in Industrial Application – Requirements to a Comprehensive Data Model
models and the overall model should pos-
sess. From the point of view of the final as-
set, a detail in a given component (e.g. a re-
sistor in a motor) might not be of interest to
the operator, whereas it could be a critical
part for the manufacturer of the component
(motor).
of transfer mechanisms, such as dedicated
services or infrastructures (e.g. cloud plat-
forms). Stakeholders must be able to choose
their own way to communicate with each
other.
Another aspect of independence concerns
the portability of a digital twin: one of the
players involved in the overall lifecycle of the
asset may want to replace the existing IIoT
system with a new one. It is therefore critical
to be able to transfer the complete digital
twin data model(s), e.g. including data dic-
tionary, connectivity etc.
The way in which digital twins are handled
throughout the supply chain must therefore
include methods that make it possible to se-
lect and filter contents from one stage to an-
other. As far as the top-level view of the final
asset is concerned, only components that
have an influence on the asset's behavior or
functioning might be relevant in terms of
monitoring and analytics. However, in terms
of a closed loopback to product design or
spare parts management, other components
may play a role in the asset's business pro-
cesses.
C ONCEPTS TO R EALIZE A D IGITAL
T WIN D ATA M ODEL
When considering the requirements placed
on the reference data of the digital twin
model and its maintenance, we need to ad-
dress the question of the complex data
structures that have to be described along
the supply chain. This question relates to
both the data sources for the twin data
model and the format used to describe and
transport it.
Obviously the required level of detail is a
question of product design and the business
case associated with the asset. As compo-
nents are often used in several different
products, the OEM’s data requirements for a
specific component in no way constitute a
generally applicable component model—an-
other OEM using the same component might
have a totally different usage scenario and
therefore a different view of the component.
Data Sources of Digital Twins
In our view, the only reasonable source for
the essential structural data is to be found in
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM),
where consolidation capabilities, references
to the product structure and, in particular,
change information (including versions of
structures) are available. We therefore re-
Digital twin data models therefore need to
provide options for controlling the granular-
ity of the specific models that are processed.
Distribution and porting
It is obvious that unproblematic data trans-
fer must be possible if the exchange of digital
twins between stakeholders is planned. This
means that it is necessary to be independent
IIC Journal of Innovation
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