Philippe: If we go one step further, you could imagine that the customer will want to have that twin as well. But something strange is happening: The line user, the machine user or the purchasing guy is purchasing a piece of mechatronic equipment — he knows how to purchase spare parts, services, installation and warranty, but he very seldom requires access to the twin. And the machine OEM, on its side, doesn't want to give away the twin because it's very precious. This is IP.
We have the capability on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, with our brands on the 3DEXPERIENCE site, to simplify and beautify the twin, and you can choose how much you want to simplify.
It might be that the machine OEM or the line builder is comfortable enough with a level of simplification that he is okay to sell or rent the twin itself. And by the way, in the case of equipment as a system, of course, that virtual training operation is super interesting with the current business model where you sell and then, you service. But with EaaS, it's not just useful – it's a prerequisite. It's a prerequisite of that paper-part model.
As a machine OEM, you have much more take to the machine’s performance. So, you absolutely need that twin and you need to keep that twin updated. So again, this virtual twin updating mechanism needs to be worked out and needs to be reflected upon.
Arvind: Well, it's a very interesting point that you brought out, Philippe — that for the EaaS model to even work, having some sort of virtual twin for every machine that you sold is not just a nice thing to have.
But certainly, you will not be able to do business without that. So, I guess that's something that executives have to take note of — that they need to have some sort of virtual twin of every machine that they sell and keep monitoring them, and they can probably get all data associated with that virtual twin to pass it in operation because you might foresee some things that the operator may not foresee. And it is in your best interest to go ahead and get that thing done.
Otherwise, maybe three months down the line, you're going to have a big disruption in terms of the usage of the machine. And that could lead to impacts on your revenues because you had some service-level promises that you need to uphold.