A report published by consultants Capgemini has revealed that aerospace and defense companies’ investment in digital twin technology has increased by a massive 40% in the last year.
Of the survey of 150 aerospace and defense organizations, 80% had an ongoing digital twin program, with the rest planning to start one. Participants in the report included OEMs, Tier 1 and 2 suppliers with companies reporting revenues of between US$500 million to US$50 billion.
73% of aerospace companies said they have long-term plans to use digital twins in their development and testing processes, compared to 57% just a year ago. 61% consider digital twin technology a strategic part of the overall digital transformation of their business, against 51% in 2021.
According to the research, key factors driving companies to invest in digital twins include cost savings (71%), reducing time to market (70%), increasing sales (63%), and providing an advanced training environment for employees (68%).
67% of respondents also said that improving sustainability is a key driver for their digital twin investments, up from 60% in 2022.
Lee Annecchino, global industry lead for aerospace and defense at Capgemini said, “Aerospace businesses are beginning to appreciate that digital twins hold greater value than just creating 3D models of products and solutions. Digital twins’ true potential is being able to accurately simulate every step of the creation process from design to manufacturing and through real-world operations and applications.
“If greater investment in the technology continues, as our research indicates, digital twins will enable automation at every point on the value chain, generating significant cost reductions and driving innovation. Organizations now need to ensure they can realize the full potential of this transformative technology, with a baseline digital infrastructure and a unified data platform as key foundations.”
In addition, the report, Mirroring Reality: Digital Twins in aerospace and defense highlights that an intelligent digital infrastructure and good data management are crucial to fully leverage the digital twin potential, a statement with which 78% of OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers that have on-going digital twin initiatives agreed with. However, nearly 60% of organizations still cite the lack of unified data platforms as a challenge in digital twin deployment.
The report was produced by the Capgemini Research Institute, the consultant’s in-house think-tank on digital technology.
