Swedish heavy industrial equipment specialist Alfa Laval is set to adopt digital twin technology to expand production capabilities of centrifugal separators, one of its key product areas. Digital twin technology is planned to support operations development and reduce production time ramp-up at Alfa Laval.

The adoption of digital twin technology and digital operations is part of a planned progression at Alfa Laval to Industry 4.0.

Alfa Laval will expand and automate its capacity in the production facility in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

To support operations development, the company will use Real Digital Twin (RDT) technology from AFRY, an engineering company. Based on Siemens software, the technology produces a digital twin of the manufacturing process and its machineries and enables simulation and functional testing of the process lines before actual production expansion. Benefits include shorter installation and ramp-up time and optimised production.

“By using the advanced twin technology, we can accelerate our work towards a more digital and automated production which is well in line with our Industry 4.0 strategy,” said Mikael Tydén, President of the Operations Division.

Apart from facilitating the capacity expansion the RDT technology will be used to simulate and verify production changes and optimisations. This is planned to make operations development safer and more cost-efficient.