Astute investment in digital transformation has become the hallmark of an efficient, resilient and innovative manufacturing organisation. Now, industry leaders are using mixed reality, autonomous systems and digital twins – virtual replicas of real-world entities and processes – to unite digital and physical environments and enable continuous optimisation. “Manufacturing companies are looking for ways to manage and optimise their operations and supply chains to become more resilient, efficient, sustainable and profitable,” says Indranil Sircar, chief technology officer of manufacturing and supply chain at Microsoft. “Leveraging their existing digital transformation investments while implementing digital twins and digital threads empowers companies with simulation, predictive insights and automation. It gives them a view of their business that spans the past, present and future.” Microsoft Azure is the thread that weaves these digital and physical environments together, and the company is ensuring that every developer and organisation can get the best from it. “Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing was built to leverage inherent Azure capabilities like the internet of things (IoT), high performance compute and storage, zero-trust security, partner application ecosystems, confidentiality, data sovereignty, streamlined technology stacks, cloud-to-edge development and artificial intelligence,” says Sircar. “It is the foundation on which digital engineering, digital twins and digital threads are built and from which enterprises will consume ready-made services and build their own custom services.” Already, these technologies are yielding the insights that are crucial for resilient and sustainable manufacturing. At Bosch, for example, Azure digital twin technology has taken human-machine collaboration to new levels to enable perfectly timed maintenance to ensure equipment effectiveness. Microsoft’s Indranil Sircar discusses how weaving together digital and physical environments is enabling manufacturers to optimise processes, predict business outcomes and elevate the customer experience BY J ACQU I GR I F F I THS F E ATUR E Best of both worlds 108 “Leveraging existing investments while implementing digital twins and digital threads empowers companies with a view of their business that spans the past, present and future”
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