Digital Labs makes industry sustainable

Digital Labs makes industry greener by anticipating various scenarios in product development and the product development process. By using Digital Labs to simulate processes, industry can not only optimise, but also make a significantly greener environmental impact – at no additional cost.

The company behind Digital Labs is EDRMedeso, which supplies the technology to manufacturers and others, so that Denmark can continue its proud tradition as a pioneering country in environmental issues, and ensure that companies meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“In our work with Digital Labs we can optimise many different aspects of industry, reducing Time to Market and strengthening competitiveness, so that jobs can remain in Danish hands,” says Mark Milton, Country Manager at EDRMedeso, and continues: “The optimisations also benefit the environment, so I’m not afraid to say that through our work, we see ourselves as one of the companies with the greenest environmental impact in the entire Nordic region.”

Greener at no additional cost

If the right technologies are used, it need not be more expensive for industry to produce in an environmentally friendly manner: With Digital Labs, you can easily alter material choices, for example from aluminum to composite or change entire production processes. On the materials side, the engineers can access the materials database Ansys Granta, and search for information about various types of materials, as well as on their environmental accounts, transport times, risk of child labour, etc.

The tools can also be used to analyse individual elements in the production, such as a pump, or to run through the entire life cycle of a product, to optimise everything from the use of sustainable raw materials to short production time and the choice of recyclable materials.

If we look at the pump, Digital Labs can analyse: Where does it become worn? When should it be replaced, to avoid downtime? Is the water flow optimal? Where should the pump be attached, to minimise vibration? And so on.

Reinforcing food safety

In the food industry, the technology can reinforce food safety by, for example, ensuring that a freezer maintains the desired temperature, so that the chickens in the corners are also properly frozen. Digital Labs can also calculate the freezer’s power consumption, wear, etc., depending on whether it is located inside or outside the factory hall.

Virtual production tests

“Digital Labs has the advantage that whether you look at the individual parts of production, such as a pump, or at the production process in its entirety, the machine builders no longer have to build a physical prototype, which is time-consuming and can be major investment,” says Mark Milton.

Instead, Digital Labs sets up a virtual model of the product/solution – a so-called digital twin, where you can change the layout and design on the screen, and ensure that the process is most appropriately organised.

On the service side, the technology has the advantage that the data reveals the precise wear and tear on the equipment. That means that instead of routinely replacing a turbine after 16 months, you can replace it when it is actually worn out. This insight into wear also means that companies can avoid expensive downtime on production lines, because they will always be ahead of the game with service.

Possible future solutions

EDRMedeso services a wide range of customers, from manufacturing companies to drilling platforms.

“We are closely following the debate on the coming energy islands, because this is a field where Digital Labs could optimise and make the islands even greener – for example by analysing everything from the wind turbine blade design to the cross-section of the cables that will bring the electricity to the consumers,” says Mark Milton, who is glad that a large number of green start-ups are investing in Digital Labs from EDRMedeso as their platform for a range of future sustainable products, from battery technology to hydropower.

By Pia Bundgaard Hansen, Partnermedier