Furuno Hellas has been awarded Digital Twin Ready certification from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for HermAce, a smart onboard system that collects and monitors data on bridge navigation and communication equipment, actively supporting remote troubleshooting and problem rectifications.

HermAce, developed by the Hellas team of the Japan-headquartered marine equipment manufacturer, uses a digital twin as a virtual replica of bridge equipment based on data streamed directly from the vessel that offers real-time identification, diagnosis and resolution of problems.

Using HermAce, Furuno can remotely monitor, maintain and test their onboard equipment and this capability will deliver cost reductions to their ship operator clients as maintenance will be more predictable with testing requirements satisfied digitally.

It is the first time that the Digital Twin Ready certification has been granted for a Digital Health Management (DHM) developer in the marine and offshore industry. LR has previously awarded Digital Twin Ready Approval in Principles to GE, HHI and SERI for completing the life-cycle engineering review of the processes and software tools in developing digital twins.

In granting the approval to Furuno Hellas, LR evaluated the engineering life cycle processes, the workflow involved in the HermAce model, algorithm development, software conformity and practices concerning information security, in accordance with LR’s Digital Twin Ready requirements.

Digital twins, which meet all four stages of LR’s Assurance of Digital requirements are dependable, trusted digital tools sharing real-time information, predicting failures and providing technical input for improvement actions. LR pioneered the assurance of digital solutions by publishing guidance for digital compliance of health management systems in September 2018.

“We are extremely delighted that HermAce, developed by our subsidiary Furuno Hellas, has been certified to be Digital Twin Ready by LR. Through fully-fledged deployment of HermAce, we strongly envisage that we will be able to provide our clients with more peace of mind when using our products onboard vessels. We would like to stress that we are determined to continue to contribute to the safety of our clients by further enhancing our after-sales maintenance service provision with increased speed and precision, which is readily available in every corner of the globe around the clock,” said Muneyuki Koike, FURUNO Senior Managing Director.

“It is now more critical than ever to build trust in new technologies by applying practical, effective assurance techniques, which will help in operating vessels safely, reliably and remotely in the future,” said Luis Benito, LR’s Innovation and Co-creation Director. “A new paradigm in shipping has started, towards remote operations, when digital health management technology starts enabling remote servicing, maintenance and testing of critical equipment for the safety of ships, with digital technology that can be trusted by ship managers, ship operators and end users.”

This announcement is underpinned by LR’s digital strategy that is focused on delivering tangible benefits to our customers and partners, helping them to drive business outcomes through the safe and appropriate adoption of new technologies. Our digital solutions enable clients to optimise the performance of their assets, their people and their business, whilst opening new opportunities for growth. Our pathway aligns with what matters most to customers, in line with what technical solutions are right: we’ll take a customer led approach.