Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1181966
24 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 the changes that the manufacturing organiza- tion would have recommended. Digital twin allows for that communication earlier and for engineers to go through that virtual environ- ment and maybe even collaborate with the manufacturer on that virtual environment to talk about what changes could be made that would reduce the manufacturing time or improve cost or quality—anything that would help the bottom line. Holden: I keep hearing questions like, "I hear all these great things about Industry 4.0 and smart factories, but how do I get started? How do I know what to prioritize? What's the first step on this long journey?" Meyers: I've learned a lot in my time with Sie- mens about software and capabilities that I never knew existed. If I were an engineer, I'd say, "Wow. Why don't we do this?" It starts with a senior executive deciding that they're going to change their development model. His- torically, a lot of this executes with a "turning the crank" ideology, and putting the onus on in how you manage the material in the assem- bly sequence. Holden: Especially the box builds, where now you start to involve robots and articulating devices, which gets into some of the hardcore Siemens products that have been available for many years. It sounds like you coming on board has helped to create a higher level of smart fac- tory integration, or what I call "islands of auto- mation," and pull them together for potentially much bigger paybacks. Meyers: Absolutely. I spent most of my career on the upfront side; most of the work that I did was on the ideation and creation side. And because we followed our product into the factory and worked with them on launch - ing, you find out that engineers can make many assumptions on what can be done on a factory floor "in a perfect world." But in the real factory, things can't always be done. Many engineers don't understand that, but when they find out, it's usually too late; their design is too well-baked for them to make Digital twin is the digital representation of product, in all disciplines.