UK Digital Twin Market Research Report: Forecast (2022-2027)

Market Definition

A digital twin is a virtual model of an object or system that uses machine learning, simulations, and data analytics capabilities to predict the performance characteristics of its physical companion before it gets manufactured for real. In this technology-driven era, digital twins are continuously learning new skills to generate better insights for making products more innovative & processes more efficient.

Market Insights

The UK Digital Twin Market is anticipated to grow at around 30% CAGR during the forecast period, i.e., 2022-27. The growth of the market is likely to be propelled mainly by the increasing requirement for asset monitoring in industries, the mounting prevalence of Industry 4.0, and the rising construction of smart buildings for optimum energy consumption in the UK. Besides, the increasing utilization of digital twin models in manufacturing sectors to reduce costs & improve supply chain efficiency is another prominent aspect projected to drive the industry in the coming years.

Digital twins are predictive models that help companies virtually see physical prototypes of their assets before they get developed in real-time, thereby improving process workflow throughout a product's lifecycle. Several industries in the UK, specifically automotive & transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, and aerospace & defense, are increasingly utilizing digital twin technology in multiple applications, such as remote monitoring, energy management, & factory optimization, among others, in order to optimize their operational workflows & supply chains, enhance overall productivity & efficiency, design better products, & thus reduce downtime. 

Furthermore, the surging penetration of automation in various end-user verticals, coupled with the growing utilization of digital twins in the retail & automotive sectors in order to provide personalized customer services, are other prominent aspects creating new directions for the UK Digital Twin Market to expand significantly through 2027.

Latest Trend in the UK Digital Twin Market

The aerospace & defense sector is projected to create remunerative prospects for the Digital Twin Market in the UK. The aviation industry is increasingly adopting digital twin technology to overcome the shortcomings of current fleet management practices and save resources with predictive & prescriptive analytics. By creating the digital twin of aircraft & feeding them with real-time data, airlines are able to reduce maintenance costs, enhance reliability, and optimize their overall performance.

On the other hand, there's increasing utilization of digital twins in the defense sector to enhance the efficiency & performance of weapons and ensure less causality by diagnosing & avoiding faults in real-time using digital twin-based predictive maintenance models. Hence, these aspects are projected to create a pool of profitable opportunities for the UK Digital Twin Market to witness considerable growth in the aerospace & defense sector over the coming years.

Market Segmentation

Based on Application:

• Product Design & Development
• Machine & Equipment Health Monitoring
• Predictive Maintenance
• Dynamic Optimization

Of them all, predictive maintenance is among the key application areas of digital twin technology and holds a prominent share in the UK Digital Twin Market. More & more businesses operating in the country are adopting digital twin-based predictive maintenance models to avoid system or process failures through real-time equipment monitoring. By using these models, companies are able to determine the lifetime of different parts/components of an asset and perform maintenance on them before any failure surfaces. In addition, with the integration of the IoT into digital twins, organizations can now enjoy an optimized equipment maintenance cycle with reduced maintenance activities, costs, & downtime.

Furthermore, predictive maintenance-based digital twin models allow for immediate replacement of components that are approaching failure while extending their lifetime by minimizing unscheduled maintenance as well as labor costs. Hence, a large number of companies, especially those operating in sectors like oil & gas, power utilities, etc., are adopting these modes to achieve significant cost savings & competitive advantages and, consequently, fueling the growth of the digital twin market in the UK.

Based on End-User:

• Agriculture
• Manufacturing
• Automotive & Transportation
• Energy & Utilities
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Residential & Commercial
• Retail & Consumer Goods

Here, the automotive & transportation sector is projected to acquire the majority share in the UK Digital Twin Market during 2022-27. Digital twin technology is being adopted increasingly in the automotive & transportation sector to analyze the complete performance of a connected vehicle & its connected abilities by capturing its operational & behavioral data through a virtual model.

Through digital twins, automakers are offering customized services to their customers by using interactive dashboards on websites, where customers can personalize vehicles as per their preferences, thereby enhancing customer engagement. In addition, the mounting popularity of autonomous, electric, & connected cars and the ever-increasing utilization of vehicle simulation software are also stimulating the demand for digital twin technology.

Furthermore, the surging utilization of 3D simulation & 3D printing software in fleet management and vehicle designing & simulation applications and massive R&D investments by automakers in improving vehicle performance & enhancing the efficiency of production processes are further creating new avenues for the digital twin industry to expand across the automotive & transportation sector in the UK.

Market Dynamics:

Key Driver: Mounting Adoption of Industrial IoT (Internet of Things)-based Digital Twins across different Industries

With the growing affordability & improved availability of sensors, processors, platforms, & other integrated technologies, many industries in the UK, to access real-time insights into their assets, are increasingly adopting IIoT-based digital twin models, i.e., the unification of physical assets, systems, platforms, & applications, to attain benefits like reduced errors, improved quality & safety control, enhanced productivity, massive profits, and significant cost savings.

These platforms allow companies to understand the operational behavior of assets before they get installed for real and, consequently, facilitate product integration, remote diagnosis, and smart monitoring, which helps them achieve enhanced operational efficiency, exceptional productivity, and optimized performance of equipment. These benefits of digital twin models integrated with IIoT are likely to surge their demand significantly and, in turn, fuel the growth of the UK Digital Twin Market during 2022-27.

Growth Challenge: High Costs of Implementing Digital Twin Technology

Digital twins comprise high-end technologies PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), 3D CAD, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), AR/VR/ER, ML, AI, etc., which all incur high initial capital. This cost gets further high if an enterprise lacks the necessary support infrastructure & technological foundation. Hence, the adoption of digital twins is limited to large-scale end-users like the automotive & transportation sector and manufacturing industries, i.e., a significant growth restraint for the UK Digital Twin Market to grow during 2022-27.

Key Questions Answered in the Market Research Report:

1. What are the overall statistics or estimates (Overview, Size- By Value, Forecast Numbers, Segmentation, Shares) of the UK Digital Twin Market?
2. What are the region-wise industry size, growth drivers, and challenges?
3. What are the key innovations, opportunities, current & future trends, and regulations in the UK Digital Twin Market? 
4. Who are the key competitors, their key strengths and weaknesses, and how do they perform in the UK Digital Twin Market based on a competitive benchmarking matrix?
5. What are the key results derived from surveys conducted during the UK Digital Twin Market study?