Resilience in Manufacturing: The Role of Physical and Digital Twinning at ASG Group

Resilience in manufacturing has fast become a cornerstone for sustainable success, especially in aerospace. With prestigious clients like Airbus, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Safran, and ITP Aero, maintaining resilience through innovative practices like physical and digital twinning has become integral to ASG Group operations across their eight locations in the UK and Germany.

Physical twinning is where the organisation has the same physical asset in more than one location, ensuring customers have options if something happens at one site. This practice provides a robust backup system, enhancing the overall group resilience of operations and ensuring uninterrupted service. In the event of disruptions at one site, such as natural disasters or equipment failures, operations can seamlessly continue at another location. This ability is critical for maintaining continuous production and mitigating risks associated with localised disruptions.

Digital twinning, on the other hand, involves creating a digital replica of a physical asset or process. This digital counterpart allows for real-time monitoring, simulation, and analysis, significantly enhancing operational efficiency, predictive maintenance, and decision-making processes. At ASG Group, these technologies have been embraced to bolster resilience, ensuring continuity and optimisation in manufacturing processes. The ability to simulate production scenarios and apply insights across multiple sites enhances consistency and quality control, fostering a cohesive and integrated approach to manufacturing.

Simon Weston, Group Managing Director of ASG Group, explains, "The adoption of physical and digital twinning at our sites has revolutionised how we operate. It has provided us with the agility to anticipate challenges, optimise our processes, and ensure we meet the high standards expected by our world-class customers." This agility translates into a significant competitive advantage, allowing ASG Group to adjust operations according to market demand and strategic objectives.

The flexibility to shift production between sites based on demand fluctuations, resource availability, or operational efficiency optimises capacity utilisation and enables scalability. This responsiveness ensures that ASG Group can meet customer needs promptly and effectively. Jeremy Ridyard of ASG Produmax elaborates, "Digital twinning at Produmax in Bradford enables us to create a seamless flow of information and processes between our other sites. This integration is crucial in maintaining the high quality and precision required by our aerospace clients. For digital twinning, we have full simulation of our machine tools, virtual process optimisation, and in-process monitoring in real-time. For physical twinning, we have two sites with mirrored servers twinned machine tools across milling and turning, and twinned CMM facilities. These measures all underpin our business continuity and resilience."

Furthermore, having identical physical assets at different locations facilitates economies of scale, as resources such as machinery, tools, and expertise can be shared across locations, reducing overall costs. Additionally, producing goods closer to the end market lowers transportation costs and reduces lead times, enhancing cost efficiency and speed to market. This responsiveness to market conditions and customer needs enhances the competitive edge of ASG Group.

One of the significant advantages of digital twinning is predictive maintenance, ensuring ASG remain as reliable multi-site supply chain. By continuously monitoring the condition of machinery and equipment, potential issues can be identified and addressed before they lead to downtime. This proactive approach reduces unexpected breakdowns and extends the lifespan of critical assets. Sarah Stephens of ASG TGM notes, "With digital twinning, we can foresee maintenance needs and schedule them during planned downtime, ensuring minimal disruption to our production schedules. This predictive capability is a game-changer in maintaining our commitment to timely delivery and reliability."

Reliability and consistency are paramount to customer value. The ability to maintain a reliable supply of products, even in the face of disruptions, ensures consistent delivery schedules and uniform product quality across multiple sites. Manufacturing closer to the customer also allows for greater customisation and responsiveness to local market needs and preferences, enhancing customer satisfaction and service levels.

Looking ahead, ASG Group plans to further integrate physical and digital twinning technologies, to be ready to meet the customer needs of tomorrow. By expanding the use of these technologies, they aim to improve their adaptive capacity, ensuring they remain at the forefront of innovation in the aerospace manufacturing industry. Simon Weston concludes, "Resilience through technology is a continuous journey. Our commitment to leveraging physical and digital twinning reflects our dedication to excellence and our strategic vision for the future. As we continue to innovate, we are confident that we exceed the expectations of our world-class customers."

In summary, physical and digital twinning technologies not only enhance operational resilience but also provide significant competitive advantages and increased customer value. By ensuring uninterrupted service, optimising processes, and fostering innovation, ASG Group maintains a robust and adaptable manufacturing operation that meets the high standards of its prestigious clients. The ASG Group's commitment to being resilient, responsive, reliable, and ready ensures their continuous success and leadership in the aerospace manufacturing industry.[2