The concept of a virtual, digital equivalent to a physical product or the Digital Twin was introduced in 2003 at a University of Michigan Executive Course on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) taught by Dr. Michael Grieves. In light of these advances, it is timely to explore how the Digital Twin can move from an interesting and potentially useful concept that aids in understanding the relationship between a physical product and its underlying information to a critical component of an enterprise-wide closed-loop product lifecycle. Understand how focusing on the connection between physical product and virtual product will improve productivity, uniformity of production, and ensure the highest quality products.
