Expanding the concept of digital twins from physical assets to business operations brings us to Digital Process Twins (DTOs). A digital twin of an organisation (DTO) is defined as a dynamic software model that relies on contextual and operational data to understand how an organization connects with its current state, deploys resources, responds to changes, operationalises its business model, and delivers customer value.
DTOs are built to analyze an organization’s processes or services in a virtual environment, run simulations, and address issues that may confront the business in real-life situations. In essence, DTOs provide a virtual model of complete companies instead of hardware, which enables business leaders to analyse and tweak business processes as needed. DTOs enable the dynamic virtual representation of an organisation in its operational context.
Here’s what makes DTOs particularly powerful:
Process Visualization: DTOs digitally represent employees, processes, data, and assets as they exist in the physical world, which enables enhanced coordination among employees in an organisation.
Bottleneck Identification: By creating digital process maps and simulations, DTOs pinpoint resource bottlenecks, instances of faulty process execution, wasted time, and periods of idle time, communicating these insights to process owners.
Scenario Modeling: A digital twin of organisation (DTO) allows the simulation of different scenarios to improve decision-making based on the correct interrelation of processes and data from the other areas of a company. Various scenarios can then be modelled, selected, and implemented. DTO models include value chains, business processes, decision-making procedures, information systems, and human elements to simulate, analyse, and predict the outcomes of strategies and decisions virtually before real-world implementation.
Data-Driven Insights: The digital twin captures and analyses the large volumes of data generated using IT systems and production facilities to obtain usable insights for sound decision-making.
Proactive Problem Solving: DTOs enable predictive analyses about outcomes of changes in process, product, or service, as well as risks and costs of adopting new processes or leveraging new technologies.
DTOs are crucial in driving business process optimisation by providing insights that lead to more efficient operations.
