SAS digital twins on Unreal Engine transform manufacturing

Manufacturers like Georgia-Pacific improve operations with combo of SAS AI and Epic Games' engine

ORLANDO, Fla., May 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SAS INNOVATE -- SAS is poised to help transform critical processes in the manufacturing industry with enhanced digital twins that combine SAS' powerful AI and advanced analytics with Unreal Engine (UE) from Epic Games. With these digital twins, manufacturers like Georgia-Pacific (GP) can experiment with new strategies in simulated digital worlds, then take the best approaches and implement them in the real world.

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Today's factories generate huge quantities of data from multiple systems and thousands of sensors. This data, if properly harnessed, can help optimize operations and achieve unprecedented efficiency, productivity and innovation.

Digital twins at Georgia-Pacific
One of the world's leading manufacturers of paper and wood-based building products, GP is piloting these enhanced digital twins at its Savannah River Mill, which manufactures napkins, paper towels and toilet tissue. GP is leveraging SAS' technology to optimize its use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and other processes.

"With the help of SAS and Unreal Engine, we can create realistic simulations of factory operations. Imagine watching AGVs navigate through a bustling factory floor, reacting to proximity alerts, obstacles and rare adverse events in real time," said Roshan Shah, GP's Vice President of AI & Products. "The powerful analysis and photorealistic simulations delivered by SAS' enhanced digital twins can enable decision making and boost output at Savannah River Mill. And they hold great promise for improving productivity, safety and efficiency at other GP facilities."

SAS used RealityScan, a mobile app developed by Epic, to capture photorealistic renderings of GP's Savannah plant and import them into UE. Combining SAS analytics and UE is helping GP fine-tune operations without disrupting actual production lines. The pilot is expected to deliver cost savings and higher-quality products.

The tech behind the digital twins
"With SAS' advanced analytics and Unreal Engine, GP created an amazing example for how a digital twin can create real-world value for businesses," said Bill Clifford, Vice President and General Manager of Unreal Engine at Epic Games. "SAS is opening the door for manufacturers to bring complex data and automated systems to life through 3D visuals. This will make high-fidelity, interactive digital twins more accessible so manufacturers can upgrade their operations, gain better real-time insights and save money."

SAS software, including SAS^® Viya^®, helps turn massive amounts of data from factory operations and sensors into useful insights and smarter decisions. Part of the SAS offering connects UE simulations with Viya optimization routines. By integrating Viya capabilities into digital environments, users can run realistic simulations to find the best solutions. Instead of testing these solutions in the real world – which can be time-consuming and expensive – businesses can use detailed and accurate digital twins to spot any issues they might have missed.

UE, the world's most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool, enables developers and creators to build interactive 3D experiences. Epic also operates Fortnite, battle testing the latest UE rendering technology in one of the world's largest games. Epic makes this same technology available for use across games, film and television, architecture, automotive, simulation and other industries.

The fidelity of Unreal's physics simulation and its next-generation lighting and refractive surface effects help create highly detailed and realistic digital models. These features allow manufacturers to visualize and interact with their operations in a digital environment, and when combined with advanced AI, lead to more accurate predictions and better business decisions.

Beyond the manufacturing floor
"As manufacturers hire the next generation of workers, they need to make the use of data and AI more engaging and appealing," said Bryan Harris, Chief Technology Officer of SAS. "Gaming technology – for a generation that grew up playing video games – is one important way to transform business decision making from charts and spreadsheets to immersive experiences with amazing visual fidelity. Gamifying business processes and tasks can make them less repetitive and more engaging, boosting productivity and bottom-line results."

The enhanced digital twins offered by SAS and tapping UE make advanced analytics more accessible to a wider group of people with varying job roles and experience. In addition to data scientists and quantitative experts, frontline workers, machine operators and engineers can now more easily use data and AI.

SAS plans to extend these capabilities to additional manufacturers and explore other industries that could benefit from enhanced digital twins.

For instance, in health care, these enhanced digital twins could significantly strengthen hospital operations by simulating and optimizing patient flows, predicting equipment maintenance and enriching staff training. This technology could improve patient outcomes, reduce operational costs and ensure resources are used efficiently. Similarly, in urban planning, enhanced digital twins can model and optimize the development of smart cities, helping create more sustainable and livable urban environments.

Today's announcement was made at SAS Innovate, the data and AI experience for business leaders, technical users and SAS Partners. This year's event is supported by our partner sponsors, including Microsoft, Intel and AWS.

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