What is important for employees when building a digital twin that they will themselves use in operations and management? We had a chat with Patrick Backelin who shared his experiences from cataloguing data in a digital twin.

Hello there, Patrick! What do you do at Balder? 

"I am responsible for property networks, communication to and within the properties, both residential and commercial here in Gothenburg. I am also involved in a couple of different projects related to digitisation."

What information do you map in your digital twin? 

"I am out mapping such information that is important in my role; network outlets, switch cabinets, incoming fibre networks and nodes for the technical network, so that we can keep track of where everything is located. Today it is a detective job every time you go out and it doesn’t have to be that way if you have the information documented in the twin. "

"I see great benefit in getting things connected and having a toolbox where I can easily go in and troubleshoot, or provide others with information." 

 What benefits are you focusing on getting out?

"The major win for Balder, I believe, is the digital drawings that can be adjusted and made accurate. For my part, it is interesting to have good drawings when we are to build a new property network to indicate where we want the connections, similarly for the technical network's outlets. I see great benefit in getting things connected and having a toolbox where I can easily go in and troubleshoot, or provide others with information."

How do you work with data inventory to facilitate such processes?

"By mapping which space is connected to which unit and which IP address it is on, the operations technician who goes out has something to go on and can troubleshoot and remedy more easily. If we add contact information, you also know who to contact, even if it's just an external supplier who can solve the problem."

"If we can input such good information into the twin that one can remove themselves, or that someone else can at least do a 90 percent complete troubleshooting, we have come a very long way."

Do you have any advice for a successful digitisation effort? 

"That it is important to understand both what information should be documented – and how it should be documented. For example, some talk about properties as a results unit, others use nicknames or addresses, therefore it can be good to set a naming standard so that everyone does it the same way."