IDEA BIM Digital Twin: The solution for your smart factory

IDEA BIM Digital Twin: La solución para tu smart factory (PART I)

The solution of this proposal is based on the creation of a new Digital Twin model based on BIM (Building Information Modelling) to solve all the problems presented by the existing solutions in this field.

At IDEAIngeniería, we never stop innovating and looking for new solutions to expand our services, which allow us to continue being a cutting-edge engineering company that our clients can trust, thanks to all the advantages we bring to the development of their projects.

One of these innovations, which can bring great benefits to the industrial sector, is the IDEA BIM Digital Twin, a project that was created to bring together BIM, with all its implicit information, and operational and maintenance data, in order to carry out simulations at the highest level.

What is a Digital Twin?

An accurate definition of a Digital Twin would be that they represent a disruptive technology in the simulation and analysis of operational processes, and that they can maximise the benefits of the digital transformation of an installation, building or infrastructure. A transformation in which many companies are already involved and which will intensify in the coming years.

Therefore, Digital Twins are ‘live’ digital representations of devices and processes that make up an installation that are connected to the real system they represent by means of ‘Cyber-Physical Systems’ (CPS). Thus, once all theinformation concerning operation and maintenance has been generated and compiled, it is possible to obtain a highly accurate model whose behaviour closely resembles that of the real system.

What exactly is IDEA BIM DIGITAL TWIN?

IDEA BIM Digital Twin aims to become the reference of a new digital twin model, totally disruptive, based on the BIM model.

While current solutions need for the 3D BIM base model to be generated with the Digital Twin software itself, which is a major barrier to deployment, with IDEA BIM Digital Twin it is possible to skip this step and use any of the client’s existing models.

In other words, the focus is placed on BIM, so that it changes from being an obstacle to a real competitive benefit, thus facilitating the implementation of a Digital Twin without disturbing day-to-day performance during operation and maintenance.

What problems do we come up against in order to make our alternative viable?

Any commercial solution that promises to achieve a digital twin assumes that the entire installation or infrastructure in question has to be firstly modelled in 3D with the tool itself. This generates a huge obstacle for the deployment of this type of solutions since it involves:

A complete change in work practices. And therefore a long learning curve until maximum performance is achieved.
Asizeable initial investment of resources, time and money. It is also possible that this investment has already been made and that the modelling was carried out using other software, thus rendering the results unusable.
A practically endless andabsolute dependence on the provider. Since, due to the effort that goes into deployment, it is very difficult to switch to other similar software, even in the long term. However, technology changes very quickly, and if your provider falls behind and/or abandons the project, there is a risk of being lumbered with an obsolete and/or unsupported solution.
An exorbitant investment in software and licenses, given that the software is so complex in its development, in order to be marketed at prices above its own cost, the sales price reaches astronomical figures. Furthermore, as available commercial solutions are limited, providers are in a privileged position to demand the sales price they deem appropriate.