Manufacturing even the simplest product requires expertise in materials, equipment, operations, and process flow. And the interdependencies of these elements make it extremely difficult — if not impossible — to “get it right the first time” when setting up a new manufacturing line or modifying an existing process. Every element, from the product design to the manufacturing layout to the control system, introduces multiple possibilities for errors or inefficiencies that are difficult to uncover until the system is up and running. But digital twins reduce or eliminate these uncertainties by providing a way for designers and programmers to test and verify the real-world system before physical assets are ever put into place.
根据这一点数字双组联盟，数字双胞胎是“a virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, synchronized at a specified frequency and fidelity.”
更具体地说，数字双胞胎是实际组件，机器或过程的数字版本，完全复制真实世界系统。数字双胞胎是根据产品，机器或过程的物理和操作特性的数据创建的 - 包括从物料清单和机械性能，控制逻辑和运营状态的所有内容，以加工到机器性能和诊断。该数据在现实世界系统和数字双胞胎之间传输数字线程, allowing the digital twin to not only replicate the physical product or process, but also to exactly mimic its behavior.
Image credit: Entso-E
A key component of the Digital Twin Consortium’s definition of the digital twin is特定频率和保真度的同步。换句话说，经常更新数字双胞胎 - 最好是实时更新 - 以确保它与物理产品，机器或过程保持同步。这对数字双胞胎尤为重要，这些双胞胎在创建产品之前或实现了产品之前，可以帮助设计和调试。在这些场景中，一旦真实世界的版本到位，就可能需要更新数字双胞胎以反映在数字版本未被捕获的现实世界中所做的任何更改。否则，数字双胞胎成为现实世界情况的不准确表示，并使用它以用于将来更新，修改或维护可能导致浪费努力，时间和成本。
The digital thread is a communication framework that captures disparate data types and formats from a product or process across its lifetime — from development and design through service and decommissioning. This data is extracted from systems such as CAD, PLM (product lifecycle management), IIoT devices, ERP (enterprise resource planning), and MES (manufacturing execution systems). In addition to capturing and consolidating data, the digital twin uses machine learning and AI to analyze the data and make it available to stakeholders in a consistent, reliable way.
图片信用：Altexsoft
在数字双胞胎的背景下，数字线程是现实世界，机器或过程之间的链接及其数字双床。
For industrial manufacturing and automation, digital twins make it possible to design and commission a system — including motion control programs and operating logic — in the virtual world, before building prototypes and installing equipment. So designers and control engineers can test scenarios and optimize the system before it’s installed, significantly reducing the actual build, programming, and troubleshooting time. And for existing systems, digital twins allow manufacturers to simulate new product designs, processes, or production methods, validating and optimizing these changes before implementing them on the manufacturing floor, so downtime and disruptions to production are minimized.
除了设计和制造之外，数字双胞胎可用于诊断和解决过程，机器或产品的问题。例如，通过将虚拟双胞胎生成的性能或结果与物理双胞胎生成的性能或结果进行比较，可以针对差异查找，并且物理双胞胎的问题更容易识别。当加上AR（增强现实）工具时，数字双胞胎可用于帮助技术人员确定最有效，有效的修理方式。
尽管在企业中纳入数字双胞胎所需的所有数据，但这种数据通常在不同的部门中“SILED”并通过不同的传输使用多个协议的网络。To overcome these challenges, many traditional enterprise software companies, industrial equipment providers, and product lifecycle management companies have created software and processes that aid in both digital thread and digital twin implementations.
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