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Electrified – The Digital Twin

Electrified – The Digital Twin
New pathways for designing and documenting cables and wire harnesses

In a nutshell
Gartner says it. Deloitte says it. Eplan says it, too: the digital This whitepaper, “Electrified – The Digital Twin”, will first show
twin is becoming the driving force of industrial production in the what a digital twin consists of and which disciplines and fields
twenty-first century. The question is not whether the digital twin can work with it. With a special focus on the engineering field of
will find its way from engineering to production to maintenance, “designing and documenting wires and wire harnesses in 3D”, the
but when. Embedded into the megatrends of Industry 4.0 and paper examines how the virtual/physical discipline of wire harness
the Industrial Internet of Things, the digital twin brings significant development, which traditionally uses hybrid means, can utilise
advantages for manufacturing companies across the entire the digital twin to achieve better results. It quickly becomes clear
product life cycle. that enriching the digital twin with electrical information opens up
substantial advantages over the long term – particularly in times
of increasing product complexity and product variety, shortened
development cycles, and in change management and the genera-
tion of manufacturing documentation, not to mention working
with suppliers.

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Contents Content 0

Choose Your Chapter 1

The Digital Twin: Single Source of Truth

2

The Key Element: On practical relevance 3

At a Glance: Characteristics – Opportunities – Benefits

5

Play the digital twin: 10 reasons for 3D electrical information 6

KISS – Keep it short & simple: 3D wire harness development

8

At a Glance: Challenges in traditional wire harness development 9

Speeding Things Up: Reducing latency times

Recommended Actions: CAE software and the digital twin

EPLAN Harness proD: Integrated 2D/3D wire harness development

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

1 The Digital Twin: Single Source of Truth 2

The platform is called Industry 4.0. The ap- 3

processes, whether in the interaction between
plication environment is the Industrial Internet digital twins of different products or process-
4
of Thing (IIoT). Its information carrier is the es, in the acquisition of continuously available
digital twin. Formerly just a simple designation information of physical assets or as a data hub
Person 5
for static digital images of real objects in a and interface for human-initiated influences.
CAD environment, the definition of the digital
6
twin is more broadly defined today: “Digital
twins are software representations of assets
7
and processes that are used to understand,
predict, and optimize performance […]. Digital
Physical
Digital 8
twins consist of three components: a data Assets Digital Assets
model, a set of analytics or algorithms, and (e.g. plants,
machines, Twin (e.g. digital
knowledge.”* twins) 9
products)

Used for industrial applications, the digital

twin – as a complete, application-independent
digital description of products, devices, ma-
chines, systems, factories and systems and/or
Systems/
processes – serves as a bridgehead for every Figure 1: Media and data repository: the digital twin is Processes
IIoT application: it connects people, physi- capable of mapping all factors relevant for IIoT and

cal assets, digital units and systems and/or integrating this information.

* Source: https://www.ge.com/digital/applications/digital-twin

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

2 The Key Element: 2

On practical relevance Construction 3

Reengineering
Recycling Development
The use of the digital twin as an information container is particularly relevant Documentation
4
in view of the time-space dimension, which is reassessed with product life
cycle models; once created and made available in the cloud, the digital twin
5
can always be used from anywhere. The digital twin integrates information
from various sources in each phase of the life cycle. It opens up potential
Digital 6
for value creation from CAx-supported design and development – as the
Twin
so-called digital prototype at an early stage in the process – through product
Manufacturing 7
manufacturing, sales and operations on to maintenance, servicing, recycling Servicing
Assembly
Maintenance
and even reengineering. Accordingly, consultants at Deloitte have defined Commissioning
the dynamic role of the digital twin “as an evolving digital profile of the histo- 8

rical and current behavior of a physical object or process that helps optimize
business performance. The digital twin is based on massive, cumulative, 9

real-time, real-world data measurements across an array of dimensions.”* Operation

Click on the
topics for more
information.
* Source: Deloitte Consulting: Industry 4.0 and the digital twin – Manufacturing meets its match.

Deloitte University Press, 2017. Figure 2: In the product life cycle, the digital twin represents the single source of truth.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

3
Construction, Development, Documentation Manufacturing, Assembly,
Commissioning
4
n Engineering preplanning
n Integrated engineering (parallel instead of sequential project n Manufacturing instructions: current, complete
5
progress/agile methodology) manufacturing documentation with production/
n Intersubjectively comprehensible basis for dialogue assembly instructions available
6
(departments/divisions, companies, partners, customers/users) n Basis for validation (data basis for manufacturing
n Basis for validation (design simulation, behavioural prediction, evaluation)
7
physical/virtual comparison) n Database for production runtimes, procurement,
n Data consistency as the single source of truth – no duplicate entries warehousing, logistics
n Controlling project process (status report) n Intersubjectively comprehensible basis for dialogue 8

n Ongoing change management (departments/divisions, companies, partners,

n Database for generating complete manufacturing documentation customers/users) 9

n Database for repetitive work/reengineering n Implementation of “design-to-manufacturing” scenarios

without prototype construction/sample production
n Virtual commissioning/testing

Back to Figure 2

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

Operations Servicing, Maintenance Reengineering,

5
Recycling
n Instruction manual n Maintenance manual
6
n Plant visualisation n Functional status display n Disposal/recycling instructions
n Process visualisation n Predictive maintenance n Database for repetitive work/
7
n Operating status display n Database for augmented reality applications reengineering (learning effects)
n Key performance indicators (smartphone, tablet, data goggles, etc.) n Database for future configuration/
for controlling n Database for diagnoses and prognoses customisation projects 8

n Basis for dialogue for n Database for replacement parts management

reengineering scenarios n Basis for dialogue for reengineering scenarios 9

Back to Figure 2

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

3 At a Glance: Characteristics – Opportunities – Benefits 2

1. Digital asset definition: “single source of truth” 3

2. Conceptualisation: direct insight into the actual situation (as-designed/as-built)

4
3. Virtual/physical comparison
4. Collaboration: can be realised independently of time/space – process integration and data integration
5
5. Shortened development cycles, faster time-to-market
6. Reduced proposal times and delivery times
6
7. Increased quality/dependability of both products and processes
8. Improved resource efficiency and energy efficiency
7
9. Protection of company expertise
10. Cost-effective risk evaluation and analysis
11. Improved sales and service management (controlling) 8

12. Basis for repetitive work and predictive/preventative maintenance

13. Data mining: pioneer for new business models in the product and service segments 9

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4 Play the digital twin: 2

10 reasons for 3D electrical information 3

4
Gartner, one of the world’s leading IT research and consulting companies, predicts that billions 3. “How should I route the wires?” “I don’t have enough space
of products, processes and systems will be represented using their digital image in just a few for all the wires.” “What are the specific assembly steps?” “Where
5
years. On the product side, Gartner finds that the digital twin is one of the top ten strategic should I start?” When employees in manufacturing – either in-
projects in the technology segment. The advantages from a digital prototype to a fully devel- house or with external partners – ask these sorts of questions,
6
oped digital twin already become evident in the product development process. Enriching the it’s almost certain that there isn’t any digital prototype available.
digital prototype with 3D electrical information drives interdepartmental cooperation and also Suboptimal work in manufacturing begins with the exclusively
7
raises individual disciplines – such as the designing and documentation of wire harnesses – to experience-based estimation of wire lengths, which usually leads
a new level of efficiency. to reworking and additional materials costs.
8

1. Anyone who documents cables and wire harnesses in a conventional manner is familiar 4. The question is: How can the quality of cables/wire harness
with the problems: since the information content of the wire definition is insufficient – both in design be ensured if the wire lists and connection information 9

the electric schematics themselves and in the mechanical design – the manufacturing docu- aren’t part of the virtual prototype? Wire routing must be defined
mentation must be created manually. This is time consuming and prone to error, particularly at the technical level so that standards and requirements can be
since every change requires the proverbial re-invention of the wheel. adhered to and so that wiring can be reproduced – regardless of
who manufactures the product.
2. Determine beforehand how it will work later: this cannot happen without a complete
digital prototype that also contains 3D electrical information. How else, for instance, can limita-
tions for cables and wire harnesses be anticipated with respect to installation and assembly for
the target application? Using conventional methods, the physical prototype is where this is first
tested. That may be nice for nostalgia, but not for the market.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

2
5. Thinking in terms of product life cycles isn’t a trend, it’s an unmistaka- 8. Standardised and complete documentation is indispensable when wire
ble demand from the marketplace. How else can maintenance and servicing harness manufacturing is outsourced to an external partner. The digital twin
be efficiently carried out if the documentation for the manufactured product helps avoid misunderstandings, allows a company’s own demands to be 3

isn’t available or isn’t up to date? The digital twin – an as-built documenta- met and also ensures that cooperation is effectively organised.
4
tion – serves here as a clear and consistent source of product data.
9. Digitisation of the entire product can be used as a data source for
5
6. The virtual prototype fully demonstrates its strengths in scenarios for implementing augmented reality/virtual reality strategies. These technologies
collaboration. Each of the disciplines participating in product creation can benefit many stakeholders, including manufacturing, maintenance, market-
6
understand the impact of changes using the complete digital prototype and ing, sales and so on.
discuss new scenarios in a balanced exchange.
7
10. The digital twin is the perfect medium for entering into a constructive
7. The digital twin opens up new intellectual space for taking action. “De- dialogue with customers – whether during the specification process, the
sign for manufacturability” scenarios are just as possible as “design for test” development phase for design reviews or for marketing purposes. 8

schemes. Potential problems can be identified and rectified in a cost-ef-

9
fective manner during the design phase. The digital twin is changed on the
computer with just a few mouse clicks, not its actual counterpart during the
manufacturing process or in the workshop.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

5 KISS – Keep it short & simple: 3D wire harness development 2

The engineering and documentation of wire harnesses can be understood as a critical point at the interface of design and production. In traditional
4
workflows, work takes place sequentially (see Figure 3). Production-relevant data is first determined from the physically constructed prototype.
Iteration loops and reworking details are just as common as increased scrap material and critical project time windows.
5

Traditional Design Workflow

6

Mechanical Design
7
Mechanical Manufacturing Physical
3D Design Documentation Prototype
8

Electrical Design

Schematic Wire Harness Wire Harness

Design Production
Prototype Documentation
Waiting Period

Figure 3: Traditional workflow.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

2
Documentation in the traditional workflow is generally considered problematic since large amounts of effort are necessary to get complete and
consistent data and it requires a lot of work before it can be delivered. Manufacturing instructions and assembly directions remain fragmentary.
Bills of materials are compiled manually. Any changes increase the problems that ultimately arise in production (Figure 4). 3

Critical Areas
5

Mechanical Design
6
Mechanical Manufacturing Physical
3D Design Documentation Prototype
7

9
Electrical Design
! ! !
Schematic Wire Harness Wire Harness
Design Production
Prototype Documentation
Waiting Period !

Figure 4: Waiting periods in traditional workflow.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

2
In contrast, 3D wire harness development based on a virtual prototype opens up the possibility of working in parallel in engineering while in-
cluding all the electrical and mechanical components relevant for the wire harness (Figure 5). Virtual prototyping enables complete validation of
all designs. This allows companies to preventatively avoid the trial-and-error process of traditional methodology that is a familiar part of proto- 3

type construction and production. This comes about in part because decisions for changes from a mechatronic perspective can be made early
4
in the virtual design process. The automatic generation of manufacturing documentation – without having to wait for the physical prototype
– ensures reliability for expectations and for planning in production. Every necessary work step – from design to production – can thereby be
5
shortened while also increasing the quality of both the process and the final product. Ideally, the work step of prototype construction is omitted
entirely. The parallel processing of the virtual prototype additionally reduces the time-to-market.
6

Possible Design Approach

7

Mechanisches Design
8
Mechanical Manufacturing Physical
3D Design Documentation Prototype
9

Electrical Design

Schematic 3D Wire Harness Wire Harness

Design Production
Development Documentation

Figure 5:
3D wire harness development with a digital
prototype shortens the development process,
increases quality and ensures efficient produc-
tion over the long term.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

6 At a Glance: 2

Challenges in traditional wire harness development 3

4
1. No multidisciplinary development

5
2. Lack of a complete virtual prototype or digital mock-up

6
3. No virtual validation

7
4. Insufficient integration of the various groups in the design process

5. Suboptimal integration of the design tools 8

6. Late problem identification on the physical prototype 9

7. Late consolidation of the wire harness bill of materials/protection

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 Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

7 Speeding Things Up: Reducing latency times 2

Those wishing to generate new gains in efficiency must focus on processes. ling spare parts, permanent documentation of design changes).
4
A simple look at the technical infrastructure isn’t nearly enough. Reducing There are distinctions amongst the following:
latency times with the interdisciplinary and consistent use of the digital twin
5
is a very promising approach in order to significantly accelerate engineering n Data latency
and production processes and to reduce costs over the long term. Latency n Analysis latency
6
time is understood as the time from an event happening (e.g. a malfunction n Decision latency
in a machining centre, the necessity for construction changes on a prototy- n Implementation latency
7
pe) to the completion of the associated measures (e.g. procuring and instal-

9
Event data Analysis Measures Measure
Event
available available initiated completed

Time

Data latency Analysis latency Decision latency Implementation latency

Figure 6: There are considerable latency times from an event to action being taken in conventional workflows.

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 Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

2
In the design/development and production segments, data, analysis and decision latency have the greatest efficiency potentials. This is about
drastically reducing the time required and costs incurred while simultaneously increasing the quality of the measures taken. The comparison of
analogue and digital strategies outlines the considerable potential. 3

4
If design/development and production is done conventionally – meaning successively, reactively and primarily on the basis of paper-based and/
or individual knowledge – a sequential sequence of stocktaking, analysis and deciding on appropriate measures is indispensable (Figure 6). The
5
more unstructured and decentralised the documentation and availability of asset data (for products, plants, etc.), the more time each individual
work step takes.
6

The alternate digital plan based on the digital twin consistently networks data and processes for strategic planning, development, documentation
7
and manufacturing. If real-time data is available for the digital twin through the coupling of information flows and industry-specific software, short-
comings such as excessive latency times can be overcome (Figure 7).
8

9
Measure
Event
completed

Time

Figure 7: The availability of a digital twin significantly reduces latency times.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

8 Recommended Actions: 2

CAE software and the digital twin 3

4
From the digital prototype to the creation of complete manufactu- 3. Manufacturing documentation including wire harness and
ring documentation: CAE software solutions can provide an easy wire drawings, nail boards, bills of materials, wiring lists, etc. can
5
entry into simple, sustainable and efficient design and documenta- be created from the virtual prototype.
tion of wires and wire harnesses in 3D. They provide the collabora-
6
tive environment in which electrical engineers can design their wire 4. Using company templates ensures that the information is
harnesses while considering both the electrical and mechanical complete and standardised and that it meets the specific requi-
7
constraints. What are the software requirements for this? rements and the requirements for the wire harness manufacturer.
The digital prototype contains all the information necessary to
1. Ideally, both information sources can be imported: the 8
prefabricate the wires.
electric schematics from electrical engineering and the mechanical
9
geometries from the MCAD system. This closes the gap between 5. Future-proof CAE software solutions are suitable for seam-
the two disciplines so that instead of working sequentially, work less integration into PDM landscapes.
now takes place in parallel.

2. What is needed are user-friendly functions for the virtual

installation of wire harnesses and cables in 3D, to define the
wire paths and to implement design checks to ensure consistent
quality.

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Electrified – The Digital Twin 0

9 EPLAN Harness proD: 2

Integrated 2D/3D wire harness development 3

4
EPLAN Harness proD is a state-of-the-art software for the efficient “With EPLAN Harness, we can check everything in advance and
design and documentation of cables and wire harnesses. Auto- detect errors early in the process without having to build an initial
5
mated steps – from reading the EPLAN project to routing the wires prototype: mounting options, wire routing paths with respect to the
and creating the documentation and 2D nail boards – are the space in the target application or the accessibility of plug con-
6
strengths of the system. EPLAN Harness proD, with its openness nections. Ninety per cent of the tasks can thereby be resolved in
for transferring mechanically relevant information from a wide 3D and the efforts required for the prototype can be reduced to a
7
variety of MCAD systems and ECAD connection information, minimum.”
offers the potential for seamless integration into PDM landscapes. Christopher Bern, Team Leader for Battery System Development,
Designing the wire harness does not depend on the availability 8
Voltabox AG
of a mechanical prototype. The bottom line is that development
times are shortened, productivity is increased and project quality is 9
“By parallelising mechatronic product development with EPLAN
improved over the long term. Harness proD, we can considerably speed up market entry for our
customers.”
Heinz Aitzetmüller, CEO, VDS Getriebe GmbH

“EPLAN Harness proD allows us to start with wire planning early

in the digital phase of the mechanical prototypes. Many errors that
previously went unrecognised until the physical prototype was
built – meaning very late in the development process – can now be
eliminated during the product development process. This reduces
the time it takes to complete a project.”
Ding Zuhui, Production Processes Engineer, CSR

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EPLAN Software & Service GmbH & Co. KG
An der alten Ziegelei 2 · 40789 Monheim am Rhein · Germany
Phone: +49 (0)2173 3964-0 · Fax: +49 (0)2173 3964-25
[email protected] · www.eplan-efficient-engineering.com