Bosch to build quantum digital twin of Madrid factory

Bosch has teamed with Multiverse Computing to build a digital twin of its factory in Madrid using a quantum computer.

The software from Spanish developer Multiverse will use data to assess the performance of individual equipment as well as broader production processes to enhance quality control and improve overall efficiencies, including energy and waste management.

Multiverse works with most of the major quantum computer suppliers, including Pascal in France and Orca Computing in the UK as well as IBM, Rigetti, D-Wave, IonQ and Xanadu. It has raised €24m so far to tackle complex problems in the finance industry using quantum algorithms and quantum-inspired algorithms.

Bosch has already been developing digital twin technology for its mapping systems, while a separate €76m QSolid project in Germany at Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to develop quantum digital twins on superconducting qubits similar to those used by IBM and Intel.

“The collaboration with Multiverse is focused on improving the productivity and competitiveness of our factory by researching the use of quantum and quantum-inspired machine learning tools, aligned with our global Smart Factory strategy,” said Carlos Conde, Technical Vice President of the Bosch factory in Madrid. “We have a great expectation about the results of the algorithms development using our Big Data and about to spread this knowledge within Bosch organization.”

The companies expect to have results of the development and implementation of customized quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms in the Madrid facility later this year with a potential integration in a production environment across Bosch manufacturing facilities to follow. The company has 240 plants around the world with 120,000 connected machines and more than 250,000 devices

“We are excited to team with Bosch to take their connected factory strategy to the quantum level,” said Enrique Lizaso Olmos, CEO of Multiverse Computing which is based in San Sebastian, Spain, with offices in Toronto and Paris,. “This is one of the first applications of quantum computing with a digital twin. We believe it will provide a whole new level of insight and advantage to Bosch’s manufacturing operations.”