Siemens and Mercedes-Benz transform the future of sustainable factory planning with Digital Energy Twin

• Under a strategic partnership between Siemens and Mercedes-Benz AG, the companies have jointly created a Digital Energy Twin to improve the integration of energy efficiency and sustainability measures into factory designs and upgrades
• The Digital Energy Twin significantly reduces planning time in the early phase
• Developed and tested in the Mercedes-Benz ‘Factory 56’ in Sindelfingen, Germany
• Demonstrates the value of Siemens’ Xcelerator open ecosystem to create vertical and use-specific products and solutions

Siemens and Mercedes-Benz have jointly developed a Digital Energy Twin to facilitate the future of sustainable factory planning in the automotive industry.

The innovative Digital Energy Twin is designed to support the ambition to run all of the car manufacturer’s production sites worldwide on 100 percent sustainable energy by 2039. The innovative Digital Energy Twin improves, simplifies and accelerates the early phase energy planning process of the plant for both brownfield and greenfield sites, reducing planning requirements. time significantly.

The collaboration combines Siemens’ decarbonization and energy know-how with our renowned automotive partner’s deep knowledge to create a scalable tool for the automotive environment. Siemens will provide training and support, maintain and continuously develop the Digital Energy Twin as it is positioned for widespread deployment across Mercedes-Benz’s global production network.

Based on behavioral models of buildings, technical equipment and energy generation, the Digital Energy Twin, which was designed and tested at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant, Germany, in the ‘Factory 56’, connects inputs such as weather data, load profile simulation, selection and asset sizing. By simulating a physical energy system, it verifies proposed energy consumption planning scenarios and provides recommendations on how to optimize desired outcomes, including energy efficiency and associated cost savings, as well as emissions reduction.

“By accurately modeling operational and energy consumption scenarios, the Digital Energy Twin enables faster and more transparent decision-making in the early planning phases,” said Matthias Rebellius, Member of the Board of Management of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure. “This demonstrates how at Siemens we combine the real and digital worlds to drive scalable, sustainable progress across industries, and represents an exciting first step towards an integrated process for optimized planning, building management and production.”

The co-created Digital Energy Twin demonstrates the potential of Siemens Xcelerator, an open digital business platform that accelerates digital transformation, allowing customers and partners to jointly develop tailor-made products and solutions for different industries.

Siemens and Mercedes Benz entered into a strategic partnership for sustainable automotive production in 2021, enabling collaboration in advancing the digitalization of sustainable production methods.

“The Digital Energy Twin is our answer to successfully visualizing, analyzing and sustainably optimizing energy-efficient construction processes. Through this innovative approach, we benefit from a better understanding of existing factory buildings and transform them into living smart buildings. Thanks to this transformative technology, we are maximizing their potential and setting future-oriented standards for energy-efficient and sustainable use of buildings in the global Mercedes-Benz production network,” said Arno van der Merwe, Vice President Production Planning Mercedes Benz Cars.

Digital energy twins are an important part of Siemens’ portfolio to support industrial customers in achieving their sustainability and decarbonization goals. Siemens recently announced that it is working with another strong international partner on its global Net Zero Production roadmap, which uses a digital energy twin to simulate energy consumption and identify where energy savings can be achieved at 15 breweries worldwide. Siemens estimates that energy savings of 15 to 20 percent are achievable at each location, with an average CO₂ reduction of 50 percent per location.

Siemens smart infrastructure (SI) shapes the market for intelligent, adaptive infrastructure for today and the future. It addresses the pressing challenges of urbanization and climate change by connecting energy systems, buildings and industries. SI offers customers a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio from a single source – with products, systems, solutions and services from energy generation to consumption. With an increasingly digitalized ecosystem, it helps customers thrive and advance communities, while helping to protect the planet. Siemens Smart Infrastructure has its global headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. As of September 30, 2023, the company had approximately 75,000 employees worldwide.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transportation and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains and smarter buildings and networks to cleaner and more comfortable transportation and advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with the aim of adding real value for customers. By combining the real and digital worlds, Siemens enables its customers to transform their industries and markets, transforming the daily lives of billions of people. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly traded company Siemens Healthineers, a world-leading provider of medical technology shaping the future of healthcare. =1emIn the 2023 financial year ending September 30, 2023, the Siemens Group generated sales of €77.8 billion and net profit of €8.5 billion. As of September 30, 2023, the company employed approximately 320,000 people worldwide. More information can be found on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

Mercedes Benz AG is part of the Mercedes-Benz Group AG with a total of approximately 166,000 employees worldwide and is responsible for the global activities of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes Benz Vans. Ola Källenius is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercedes Benz AG. The company focuses on the development, production and sale of passenger cars, vans and vehicle-related services. In addition, the company wants to be a leader in the field of electric mobility and vehicle software. The product portfolio includes the Mercedes-Benz brand with Mercedes AMG, Mercedes Maybach and G Class with their fully electric models, as well as smart brand products. The Mercedes me brand provides access to the digital services of Mercedes Benz. Mercedes Benz AG is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of luxury passenger cars. In 2023, it sold approximately two million passenger cars and 447,800 vans. In its two business segments, Mercedes Benz AG is continuously expanding its global production network with more than 30 production sites on four continents, while at the same time preparing for the demands of electric mobility. At the same time, the company is building and expanding its global battery production network on three continents. Because sustainability is the guiding principle of Mercedes Benz’s strategy and for the company itself, this means creating lasting value for all stakeholders: for customers, employees, investors, business partners and society as a whole. The basis for this is the sustainable business strategy of the Mercedes Benz Group. The company thus takes responsibility for the economic, ecological and social effects of its business activities and looks at the entire value chain.