How Siemens, NVIDIA and AWS are accelerating digital transformation making the industrial metaverse a living, breathing reality
The term “metaverse” conjures up all kinds of images and meanings.
For a lot of people, it’s a virtual experience in a far-away world. A fantasy world that does not exist. Others might think of immersive video games, online gaming, or the future of social media.
When it comes to the industrial metaverse, the meaning is quite different. Yes, it’s a virtual environment, but the difference is the industrial metaverse is grounded in the real world – the physical world around us. When Siemens talks about the industrial metaverse it’s about taking the real world and recreating it through multiple digital twins and integrating software and various other technologies with rules that apply to any given manufacturing or production situation.
The industrial metaverse is a world that is always on. It is where real machines, factory floors, buildings – even cities are mirrored in the virtual world. It is where you can go back in time to see how a problem first started. Once you are inside the industrial metaverse, a seemingly infinite number of possibilities open up.
Before the industrial metaverse – a digital transformation
Before the industrial metaverse can be fully realized, a company needs to transform operations (not everything, but key operations) to a digital enterprise. As a technology and world-leading software company, Siemens provides many of the key components that go into digitally transforming a business. Some of these include cloud and SaaS offerings, a comprehensive digital twin, digital threads and the Siemens Xcelerator open digital business platform.
Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS)
Siemens and AWS have been working together since 2015 to help industrial organizations advance their digital transformation. As a result of this partnership, Siemens has helped numerous customers, large and small, adopt a cloud strategy.
Moving operations to the cloud can help businesses accelerate their path to digital transformation. Businesses use the cloud to tap into the necessary computational power along with opportunity to gain seamless connectivity between their data, business processes and software applications. This connectivity allows insights in real-time to help optimize and streamline operations.
Because of today’s geographically dispersed workforce, global connectivity via the cloud gives dispersed teams access to the same critical data and functions. Access to the cloud allows businesses to overcome the challenges, limitations and costs of on-premises legacy information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) environments.
Our active partnership with AWS allows our customers access to numerous Siemens SaaS solutions such as Teamcenter X, NX X, Simcenter X and Mendix on AWS Cloud, negating the need for on-premises infrastructure. With Siemens Xcelerator as a Service, our portfolio of cloud-based and SaaS products and solutions powered by AWS, customers gain immediate access to an on-demand infrastructure that allows them to innovate across multiple domains. As innovation strategies change, businesses can scale their use of SaaS seamlessly without building, creating or adding on-premises resources.
Finally, because of our approach to innovation, we can quickly integrate advanced, emergent technologies into our offerings. A good example is how we are working with AWS to create exciting new generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) solutions. Already, AWS has numerous GenAI-related offerings which include Amazon Bedrock, Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Q.
Siemens is working on multiple fronts to make the technologies of the future available to everyone today. With AWS, we are making it easier for businesses of all sizes and industries to build and scale GenAI applications. A good example of this is how Siemens is integrating Amazon Bedrock into our Mendix low-code development platform. This will allow customers to create new and upgrade existing applications utilizing the power of GenAI.
Much of what we are doing today will enable customers to realize the industrial metaverse tomorrow.
The digital twin
At the core of the industrial metaverse are digital twins – virtual models mirroring real-world objects. Digital twins are already revolutionizing work processes, as Siemens is using them to optimize factory performance. NASA has employed our digital twins to ensure the success of the Mars rover Curiosity mission. Next-generation digital twins will be photorealistic and physics-based, enabling real-time and immersive collaboration. Connecting multiple digital twins will form the backbone of the industrial metaverse, fostering complex relationships and bridging the gap between the real and digital worlds.
In close collaboration, Siemens and AWS are making it easier for customers to use our digital twin technology with specific AWS cloud services to deliver powerful new manufacturing insights, automation, and connected services.
Here’s a four-minute video from AWS called “The innovation tsunami is swelling” which talks about AWS Cloud and the Siemens digital twin together.
Digital threads
The comprehensive digital twin will never achieve full potential if not connected to a digital thread. A digital thread is a digitalized, automated and traceable pathway revealing activities involved in various phases of the product life cycle. These threads connect multiple domains across various disciplines. Digital threads can also provide insights into how products are used, perform in the field and how they might be improved.
Siemens is helping customers digitally transform by connecting a broad set of technologies with digital threads. Keep in mind no digital thread is the same as all processes are unique, whether it’s automotive, consumer products, or heavy equipment, so Siemens has developed unique digital threads for customers in all these industries covering tasks in design, manufacturing and other domains.
Bringing it all together with Siemens Xcelerator
Siemens Xcelerator open business digital platform is at the core of everything Siemens. The platform consists of IoT-enabled hardware, software and digital services to help customers digitally transform. Siemens Xcelerator has become a proven starting point, an “easy in” for so many businesses large and small who want to make their digital transformation easier, faster and at a pace that is right for them.
The platform can be broken down into three components:
- A curated, modular portfolio of industrial IoT-enabled hardware, software and digital services from Siemens and qualified partners, giving customers access to the latest innovation.
- An ever-growing open ecosystem of partners and system integrators so customers can benefit from the broadest reach of experience and technology. From solution vendors to technology partners and developers, this is where technology is stitched together for optimal outcomes.
- An evolving marketplace where customers can explore, evaluate and transact. A place to build lasting and valuable relationships.
Siemens Xcelerator makes it easy for customers to navigate their digital transformation – faster and at scale. By combining the real and the digital worlds across operational and information technology, Siemens empowers customers to boost productivity, improve competitiveness and bring innovation to market.
The next stop on your digital journey
When you combine the SaaS solutions created by Siemens and AWS along with the capabilities available in the Siemens Xcelerator platform, which includes the digital twin and digital threads, you have powerful means to digitally transform your operations.
No question digital transformation takes you closer to the industrial metaverse which is the next level for reinventing how products are designed, manufactured and maintained. In a shared and immersive environment learning becomes more intuitive, design concepts are more easily understood and new ideas are seen and realized.
And when adding the powerful potential of GenAI into the mix, it’s easy to see how the industrial metaverse will quickly take off. In fact, Siemens and AWS have already taken significant steps forward with partners NVIDIA, HD Hyundai and the Sony Corporation.
More on the industrial metaverse:
–CES 2024 – Siemens keynote address
Dr. Roland Busch, Siemens AG CEO, was the keynote speaker at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas where he talked about the industrial metaverse and a host of other Siemens technologies and innovations. Watch Roland’s entire keynote here.
Key building blocks and groundbreaking collaborations were discussed during the address including the AWS and Siemens venture into immersive engineering with Sony.
-Hannover-Messe 2024 – AWS Industry Panel Discussion
“Experience the power of the industrial metaverse with AWS, NVIDIA, Siemens and BCG” Watch this expert panel discuss the latest in the industrial metaverse. Representation from NVIDIA, AWS, Boston Consulting Group and Siemens. Our own Stuart McCutcheon took to the floor to talk about the critical role Siemens has in advancing the industrial metaverse.
-HD Hyundai (Ship building)
See how Siemens and NVIDIA are teaming up to help customer HD Hyundai. If you’re curious to learn more about how Siemens and NVIDIA are working together, please visit this website.
-FREYR (Battery manufacturer)
Siemens, NVIDIA and AWS are creating an immersive industrial metaverse experience of a FREYR Gigafactory by combining the real and digital worlds.
Here’s the Siemens press release.
-Engineering.com article by Dale Tutt
“Digital transformation and the industrial metaverse” Dale Tutt, Vice President of Industry Strategy, Siemens Digital Industries Software, always as a fresh and unique perspective. In this article, he talks about the connection between the digital transformation and the industrial metaverse.
Finally, if you’re curious to learn more about the Siemens and AWS collaboration, visit the Siemens and AWS partnership website.
Siemens along with AWS continue to breathe new life into the industrial metaverse. You are encouraged to jump on board and explore how an immersive environment can exceed your most demanding needs – as well as your greatest expectations.
The industrial metaverse is calling. Will you answer?
Scott Salzwedel is a senior communications and technology writer for Siemens Digital Industries Software. In addition to blogs, Scott writes numerous articles, white papers, videos and various other types of communication relating to AWS and the digital transformation. He also created the podcast series “Talking Aerospace Today.”
