Talking Supply Chain: The Truth About Digital Twins

Digital twins are everywhere these days, but Don Hicks believes we are thinking about them all wrong. The CEO of Optilogic, joined Talking Supply Chain host Brian Straight to explain why companies investing in digital twins may not be getting the benefits they are expecting.

Digital twins are a technology that allows companies to mirror their supply chains, allowing them to make virtual changes and see the impact. But Hicks notes that these twins, which he says is more marketing speak than new technology (the concept is linked by to Michael Grieves, a professor at the University of Michigan, in 2002), suffer from many of the same problems that current systems face: data quality.

They can, however, play an important role when used in modeling, Hicks notes, but many companies are not using them in this way.

Prior to founding Optilogic, Hicks founded LLamasoft, a supply chain modeling, optimization and analytics solution provider back in 1998, later selling the company for $1.5 billion. He also founded a biotech software company called DNA Software and later established Saganworks, a tech firm focused on 3D immersive experiences used in museums, galleries and other industries.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he has spent most of his career in technology and has seen, and even led, some of the cutting-edge changes that have influenced industry.