The Digital Twin in Industry 4.0

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March 15, 2021

The Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) officially kicked off its activities at the beginning of March. With 23 founding members, including Endress+Hauser, the group’s goal is to optimally develop the digital twin as a market-ready, manufacturer-independent core technology for Industry 4.0.

The digital twin is becoming increasingly important across all industrial sectors. Serving as the interface between physical devices and components in the digital world, it enables the representation of complete production platforms in IT systems for simulating, controlling and improving processes. With its information and data, the digital twin is the key to virtually connecting value chains and for digital applications across the entire life cycle.

“The concept of the digital twin is an important aspect in the digitalization of our customers’ production systems. For this reason it’s important that manufacturers and plant operators create common standards so that the exchange of this information can function smoothly and securely,” says Nikolaus Krüger, Chief Sales Officer at Endress+Hauser. Customers will thus one day profit from comprehensive standards that meet the requirements of manufacturers, plant operators and integrators alike.

The IDTA views itself as an internationally aligned user organization for the digital twin in Industry 4.0 environments. As a founding member, Endress+Hauser is active in the relevant IDTA working groups. Netilion, the digital ecosystem from Endress+Hauser, already offers functions that support the digital twin, with plans to eventually utilize the IDTA concepts. Endress+Hauser will also keep track of the close integration of the Open Industry 4.0 activities.

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