UK-based industrial software company AVEVA is predicting exponential growth for the industrial metaverse with key initiatives already underway, months after being acquired by global automation and energy management specialists Schneider Electric.
In a media release, AVEVA Vice President Pacific Alexey Lebedev said this move will provide unprecedented opportunities for the industry and will “redefine the industrial landscape by bridging the gap between the virtual and the physical world.”
The expansion of AVEVA’s ‘digital twins’ offering as a tool for corporate strategy and decision-making is one of the key priorities.
According to Lebedev, ‘digital twins’ allow businesses to see, evaluate, simulate, and anticipate the future while employing virtual representations of processes to improve future operations.
“The industrial metaverse is a virtual version of your actual operating assets and processes – with real-time streamed data which you can jump into with colleagues to investigate, discuss and manage tasking, optimise decision making – all based on your digital twin,” Lebedev noted.
The AVEVA official also urged companies to enter the metaverse as soon as possible or risk being left behind by rivals.
He said, “Our goal is to create an end-to-end, artificial intelligence-infused software for engineering and operations accessible anywhere via one pane of glass.”
According to Lebedev, the metaverse will assist agile teams, facilitating communication and collaboration across operations and the globe.
He said the most valuable resource of all is connected through it, and it does so in a virtual, immersive environment that is powered by real-time data.
According to Carlos Urbano, Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric, the industrial metaverse will aid in breaking down organisational silos.
“It brings people together with data, and visually engages them. We’ve seen how social media has brought people together and transformed interactions, now we will see this in the industrial space,” he noted.
According to him, companies can model, forecast, and enhance operations from anywhere in the world by exploiting the virtual world when combined with AI analytics and human supervision.
The Schneider official added that the metaverse can boost sustainability and resilience by giving users virtual access to the knowledge of the entire business and supply chain, unlocking efficiencies, and opening up new routes to ESG compliance and sustainable operations.
Together with AVEVA, Schneider Electric has also introduced EcoStruxure Automation Expert, its own next-generation all-encompassing automation package.
“As businesses continue to respond, digital solutions will be the catalyst for accelerating transformation and sustainability ambitions,” Lebedev stated.
“Smart companies will place their digitisation strategies at the core of their business, ensuring they are ideally positioned for a sustainable future leveraging data and resources across their entire ecosystem,” he added.
