Creating a Digital Twin

Because so much new technology for increasing efficiency in ship construction and operation depends upon data, the creation of a digital twin of a ship is necessary. But this digital transformation could lead to a complete business transformation

These days, it seems like everyone is talking about the benefits of digital twins. As software developers and consultants with[ds_preview] shipbuilding expertise, we agree that there are many advantages to be derived. In fact, every form of computer analysis, automation and application of technology requires enormous amounts of accurate and up-to-date data. Digital twins are crucial. Increasingly, our industry is realizing this. The challenge is knowing where to start.

Unfortunately, practically speaking, shipbuilding and ship operation are so complex that there is no way that anyone will come close to complete digitization. This is because, in the fullest manifestation of the concept, a digital twin is a complete digital representation of a physical object. Thus, for each physical ship (including individual sister ships), there should be one, and only one, exact digital replica. The digital twin concept is like the term »as-built« but it goes much further; it extends throughout the entire lifecycle of a vessel and ultimately includes the use of IoT sensors to regularly keep the physical ship and digital representation in sync. The more information you have digitized, the more you can gain insights, increase effectiveness, explore new possibilities and reduce costs. Here is how it should be done.

Finding focus

Since it is impossible to digitize everything at once, you must decide on your highest priority based on what you are trying to achieve. This calls for narrowing your focus to one or two key business benefits you wish to derive. For instance, are you focussed on repairs and refits? Do you want to improve quality control? Or do you want to limit the need for changes? Do you want to provide a deliverable package for an owner/operator to use in operations? Or do you want to be the industry expert for autonomous ships? The answers to questions like these will help you zoom in on achieving a realistic goal.

But before you zoom in, you should zoom out and look at things holistically. You should realize that a digital twin enables new opportunities. Think about what business you are really in and how digitization could completely transform it. Don’t be like the executives at Kodak who thought their business was capturing images on film rather than capturing memories. Think »outside the box.« It might involve a new business model as happened with Rolls Royce Marine in 2017. Instead of selling Nor Lines ship engines, Rolls Royce sold hours of reliable operation (power by the hour). You should be open to similar changes.

Illusion of transformation

As you are analyzing your situation, you should look to optimize a digital twin’s full potential. If you just digitize current paper-based processes you will substantially lessen the benefits. You may think you are undergoing a digital transformation, but if you merely digitize what you have always done, it is just an illusion; you are actually going down a wrong path and are not making real progress. It is like scanning paper roadmaps as pdfs. It has some advantages in terms of portability and searchability, but it does not have the power of Google Maps. Instead, when you truly optimize a digital twin, you can exponentially increase your effectiveness.

The importance of people

When you finally decide what portion of a digital twin to take on, you should be reminded of the three key considerations in any project: people, process and tools. As software experts, we have strong opinions regarding programs and technology. However, the most important factor is people. Here’s what to do.

First, have a representative from each stakeholder (manager, leads, IT, end users etc.) engaged throughout the project. This will help guide communication and decision-making plus aid in correct prioritization. Second, identify champions and influencers at various levels in the organization. Look for well-respected people who are experienced but open to change. Third, promote transparency. To do a job effectively, people need to know for whom a job is being done, what the job is, and why. Finally, encourage teams to have a »disagree and commit« attitude to overcome differences of opinion. You should support vigorous debate but acknowledge that there rarely will be a time that everyone will agree. The key is that once a team has decided, everyone must commit to the decision that has been made.

Agile implementation

As for the implementation of a digital twin, you should follow the best practices of the software world which means using »Agile« principles. IT projects are not the same as building a ship, so you should do things differently.

In Agile, you rapidly and incrementally deliver value. You pick a short time period and then, within that deadline you finish something that is complete, in and of itself, and which you believe will immediately be of benefit. This contrasts with the »Big Bang« approach where you work on a project for a long time and only deliver value at the very end. A key advantage of the Agile approach is that you get a return on your investment faster and you reduce the risk of failure and prevent wasting large amounts of time. At any point, after each increment is completed, you can even stop if you so choose and be reasonably confident that you have done something useful. Of course, this is not possible in shipbuilding; a ship is not useful to an owner until it is all built. However, when dealing with software, you have an opportunity to do things in small, yet valuable pieces. By working on things this way, you learn quickly by getting feedback and thus can more quickly adjust to satisfy the stakeholders.

In conclusion, because so much new technology for increasing efficiency in ship construction and operation depends upon data, a digital twin of a ship is necessary. Increasingly, this is being recognized. Unfortunately, creating a complete digital twin of a ship is a massive undertaking so it is necessary to prioritize according to what will deliver the most value. As you are doing this, realize that a digital transformation could lead to a complete business transformation.

Beware of minimizing gains by just digitizing old manual processes. Instead, try to leverage new technology and be on the lookout for new models for your business. Be forewarned, clients will be looking for different types of value from you in the future than they are today, so you should start preparing now. After you develop a clear vision and strategy, you should focus on something small and achievable that adds immediate business value. During the project, prioritize people over process and tools. Creating a digital twin is a complex IT project but by using an Agile approach, you will incrementally add value and ultimately be successful.