- Beyond factories, assembly plants, and the metalworking industry, Asset Management approaches support other industries linked to human and environmental survival, such as Agriculture and Forest Management.
- Drones, digital twins, algorithms, asset management software, and other technological resources from Industry 4.0 now play a fundamental role in forests, crops, and data democratization to create effective and sustainable solutions.
Asset Management, Reliability, and Industrial Maintenance define the type of profitability and sustainability of an industry, an online manufacturing plant, or a complex organization. But what happens when Industry 4.0 deploys its many advantages in Agriculture or Forestry? We could say (at a minimum) that the landscape changes in a very literal sense.
There are environments as complex as they are subtle that benefit from advances in asset management, with enormous economic and social repercussions, as is the case with agriculture. Smart Agriculture or Digital Agriculture relies on the IoT, AI, and digitization to optimize both operations and results. All these digital tools, with an asset management strategy, offer results that are of great importance worldwide.
Agriculture is probably the first civilizing action carried out by humanity. Primitive nomadic peoples settled near rivers and water sources, and for the first time they no longer moved from place to place trying to survive according to the seasons, hunting, or rainfall. Now they were able to do something that changed the course of history and defined the paths of development: produce food. Centuries and millennia have passed, societies and civilizations have changed again and again, but biological rhythms remain fairly close to the original model: people need to eat at least twice a day, every day. Now, technology is an indisputable ally in the agri-food industry.
In addition to all the social and cultural changes that agriculture brought with it, its main purpose, growing food, remains one of the primary objectives of countries and organizations such as the UN, because in the 21st century there are many mouths to feed. On the other hand, in the current context, agriculture has a high rate of carbon emissions and is one of the activities that requires the most water resources, so making it a sustainable industry is a priority. To accomplish this task, there are several current technological tools that can be used to approach food production from an asset management perspective, with all the advantages of Industry 4.0. Let’s take a closer look at how the use of digital twins is positively impacting agriculture around the world, and their current applications and uses.
The Use of Digital Twins in Controlled Environment Crops
Controlling nature is an aspiration that is shared by many. In agriculture and forestry, this attempt to master natural variables is particularly important because it is implicit in the survival of our entire species. High food demand, climate change, soil depletion after millennia of agricultural activity, pesticide use and its consequences for human health, and above all the need to produce more with fewer resources require new approaches and technological resources. The use of Digital Twins is delivering excellent results in crops, both in controlled environments and in the open field.
As a virtual replica of a physical system, the data obtained through the use of sensors and the IoT makes it possible to simulate possible solutions and make operational decisions based on information obtained in real time. All this with the aim of optimizing agricultural facilities and obtaining healthier crops, reducing losses, and strengthening the financial aspects of the business.
Digital Twins in Greenhouses and Intensive Agriculture Spaces: When growing conditions, space, and resources are controlled, Digital Twins replicate greenhouse conditions to analyze irrigation optimization and environmental humidity levels and create a virtual space to combine variables such as agricultural machinery operation, ventilation, soil studies, lighting, fertilization, pest occurrence, and possible crop behavior. based on which the life cycle of assets is managed and pest control and containment strategies are optimized. All this translates into savings in energy costs (electricity and solar panels), inputs (fertilizers and pest control), and better management of parts and spare parts for machinery.
Digital Twins in the field: monitoring the performance of key assets such as irrigation systems and agricultural machinery, real-time data such as weather conditions, soil moisture, acidity or alkalinity levels, grain quality, or storage conditions create a solid layer of data on which to base an Asset Management strategy and optimize productivity. The digital twin reproduces this ecosystem where living elements and industrial assets are intertwined, and in this virtual representation, changes, decisions, and resources are introduced that can change the course of action and drive exceptional results. The tribal knowledge accumulated over millennia of agricultural activity is now exponentially enhanced, thanks to asset management strategies and cutting-edge technologies such as digital twins, the IoT, drones, and wireless sensors, with data managed through sophisticated software tailored to the farmer’s objectives.
Advantages of using Digital Twins in Agriculture:
- Increased production and profitability
- Reduced water consumption (up to 30%).
- Remote crop monitoring.
- Higher yield per hectare.
- Better decisions on final waste disposal to avoid pollution, with an impact on sustainability.
- Prevention of contamination of drinking water sources by pesticide use, with a positive environmental impact.
- The versatility of Digital Twins means they can represent a plot of land, a greenhouse, machinery, an irrigation system, an entire ecosystem, or the interaction of living elements (crops and animals) with industrial elements (machinery, irrigation systems, solar panels, or ventilation).
- Digital Twins, by their nature, can expand their virtual representations as much as necessary, constantly incorporating new elements to analyze for operational and business decision-making.
- Virtual representation of new planting and harvesting techniques, analyzing their applicability and chances of success.
- Determine optimal harvest time by analyzing data such as biomass, grain quality, and climate.
- Optimization of scenarios, technical recommendations.
- Integration of sensor data and digital and satellite images in real time.
An important aspect of Digital Twins is that small farmers can also make use of them, as wireless sensors are becoming increasingly cheaper on the market, asset management software is becoming more intuitive, and platforms are becoming more integrated and abstracted, which democratizes both the technology and the advantages it offers in food cultivation. Resources such as mobile applications for farmers, digital agriculture services, and consulting are already available on the market.
Digital Twins, drones, and satellite imagery for forest management
Do any nostalgic Star Wars fans remember the lush forests of the Moon of Endor? Large tree ferns, woody trees, and a dense green canopy were the setting for one of the decisive actions in the plot. And why was it such an evocative and sensitive environment for viewers? Because humanity is intrinsically linked to forests and their resources, because before we sowed seeds and became farmers, we were a race of hunters and gatherers. Now, it is possible to find drones flying over forests with centuries-old trees, this time with very good intentions for all of us.
In the field of forestry, Digital Twins, along with other technological tools, have become a great ally of forest management. Forests are crucial to environmental balance and the climate challenges we currently face. They protect biodiversity, ecosystems, and entire habitats of thousands of species. They absorb CO2, thereby reducing the carbon footprint, protect water and soil (preventing erosion), and are the heritage of thousands of human groups who have their home and way of life in the forests (think of the Amazonian tribes, for example). And economically, the timber industry plays an important role in economic development, in addition to other derivatives such as resins and fruits.
Almost everyone probably agrees on why forest care is important. However, data collection in forests is often complex and costly. A forest is a large area of land, sometimes difficult to access and subject to many environmental and biological variables. With drones, satellites, and other mass scanning instruments, it is possible to obtain real-time data and images of vast expanses of forests, rivers, and aquifers, terrain conditions, and other valuable data. Processing and studying this data allows us to understand how the forest is evolving and to know, for example:
- Tree height and diameter
- Crown circumference size
- Presence of invasive species (animals or plants)
- Landslides
- Sources of environmental pollution
- Signs of forest fires
Best of all, many of these scans can be performed in just 10 minutes on forest plots.
With the speed and updating of this data and an appropriate asset management approach, it is possible to create a digital twin from which to organize a forest management structure, adding new data to the digital ecosystem and training algorithms to improve preventive and conservation actions. All this data also supports scientific research and development linked to what is perhaps the most important human activity: preserving life.
It is clear that Asset Management is immersed in all aspects of life, beyond the industrial environments where maintenance was born. Every human activity, from food cultivation to cultural management, can benefit from an Asset Management approach to achieve better results in whatever it is seeking to improve. Technology is extremely important, but the approach is essential, and at the Association of Asset Management Professionals, we work to promote Asset Management in organizations and companies around the world, involving thousands of professionals in the knowledge and application of proven practices that deliver exceptional operational and financial results, with safety and sustainability for people, assets, and the environment.
Sources:
- https://academiaruraldigital.es/
- https://opia.fia.cl/
- https://ai3lab.com/gemelos-digitales-agro/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
- https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/
- https://emesent.com/
