The digital transformation of business leaves no one behind. While the effects of going digital are obvious in the tech world, other spaces also benefit from new technology. One of the most important is industry — the companies that produce goods and utility services like power and water. Industry relies on machines that operate on a massive scale; even minor gains in efficiency mean big cost savings. The Internet of Things can provide those gains.

To learn more about how IoT is changing industry, Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-host of theCUBE*, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, visited the GE Minds + Machines conference in San Francisco, CA. There, he spoke to Mike Campbell, executive VP of ThingWorx Products at PTC.

The conversation opened up with a look at why companies are adopting IoT technology. Campbell explained that many of ThingWorx’s customers want to take advantage of IoT in order to service their products, operate and manufacture better than before.

“We partnered with GE because they have an outstanding perspective on what’s going on in industrial IoT,” Campbell said. He continued, commenting that people are beginning to understand the value IoT can provide to the enterprise. People are figuring out how to aggregate that information, become more productive, gain more insight and serve happier customers.

The practical side of a digital twin

Campbell described the concept of a digital twin, a complete replica that represents everything that happens in the physical world. He felt that while the concept was exciting, there were also practical concerns. Where is the value? How does a company keep the twin updated? To benefit from such a model, a company must decide where the value is, what they’re after and then build a digital twin of that specific thing.

Insight is one of the great advantages to IoT technology. Campbell mentioned there is a lot of value in knowing what is actually happening now. He stated that IoT technology can now help validate and correct industrial designs and machines based on what’s really happening.

*Disclosure: GE and other companies sponsor some GE Minds + Machines segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither GE nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of GE Minds + Machines.

Photo by SiliconANGLE