Schaeffler and NVIDIA join forces to develop digital manufacturing

Schaeffler has entered a technology collaboration with NVIDIA to further digitalize its production processes and, ultimately, make them more efficient. Using NVIDIA Omniverse, Schaeffler is expanding its production elements, which will be integrated and simulated as digital twins, with goals of integrating half of the company’s plants into Omniverse by 2030.

“Schaeffler is consistently and persistently driving the digitalization of its plants,” says Andreas Schick, Chief Operating Officer at Schaeffler AG. “To be able to shape the production of the future, you need strong partners like NVIDIA. Together, we will create a digital ecosystem for our more than 100 plants that will sustainably revolutionize production processes. The Omniverse and the use of digital twins will make our value chains more efficient and agile.”

Schaeffler will develop digital twins, or digital representations of plants and machines, using the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. With AI-supported solutions, employees will be able to simulate physical properties of materials, processes, and production processes and optimize them more quickly. In addition, Omniverse will make it possible to deploy future technologies such as humanoid robots flexibly in production environments.

“As global manufacturers seek to modernize operations, a simulation-first, AI-driven approach is essential to drive efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage,” says Rev Lebaredian, Vice President of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at NVIDIA. “Our work together will enable Schaeffler to simulate and optimize its manufacturing and robotics operations before making changes in the real world—accelerating innovation while reducing risk and cost.”

Roberto Henkel, Senior Vice President Operations Digitalization & IT at Schaeffler, adds: “The technology collaboration with NVIDIA makes realistic, well-functioning representations of digital twins and physical AI possible. Schaeffler aims to play a key role in shaping the development of the Industrial Metaverse for the manufacturing industry together with NVIDIA. For this, we are contributing our decades of knowledge in the fields of manufacturing and vertical integration for the further development of Omniverse.”