When a physical product is paired with a digital operating environment, its lifecycle and its business potential expand. The weighing simulators developed by Tamtron and Gofore create value for product development, training and sales support before the actual product is even deployed in the field.
Traditionally, heavy equipment simulators have been used for training. Now, their role is becoming more important as part of the digital product lifecycle. In the collaboration between Tamtron and Gofore, the simulator became a training environment, a product development platform and a sales demonstration tool, all at once.
Simulation platform delivers versatile business value
Tamtron’s goal was to integrate real weighing solutions into the simulator environment and create increasingly realistic training and usage scenarios. Development quickly expanded into other use cases as well. Tamtron gained a simulator to support its new excavator weighing solution, and the product was already showcased by the simulator during its launch phase at Bauma 2025 in Munich, the world’s largest event for the construction and heavy equipment industry.
“The greatest value of the solution comes from bringing the physical device, software and user experience together in one digital environment even before the product is used in real operations. In the simulator, the product can be tested, demonstrated and developed safely, cost-effectively and in realistic use scenarios,” explains Miikka Laaja, Production Lead at Gofore.
A solution attracting international interest
A digital product lifecycle does not simply mean digitising a product. It means that the product can be used and developed throughout its lifecycle with the help of data, software and digital services.
“At Tamtron, simulators are used especially at trade fairs and customer events to demonstrate how the scales work in practice. The solution has attracted international interest, and resellers have also actively started using the simulators at their own events. At the same time, the simulator provides an environment for developing and testing new products without heavy equipment or physical operating environments,” says Janne Konttila, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Onboard Weighing at Tamtron.
When a digital counterpart is created for the product, it becomes a continuously evolving service rather than just a single device. Training with real measuring equipment in a simulator environment also makes learning more effective, especially in group training situations where the use of actual heavy machinery would be expensive and limited.
Competitive advantage from combining data, software and user experience
The development of heavy machinery and industrial solutions is rapidly moving toward software-driven business models. Simulators are a good example of this: they no longer serve only user training, but also continuous product development, customer experience and business growth.
When data is collected from products, usage can be simulated and features can be improved through software updates, an entirely new layer of value is created around the physical product.
“For companies, this means an opportunity to build competitive advantage not only through the product itself, but also through how well its digital lifecycle supports the user, maintenance, training and continuous development,” Laaja concludes.
Let’s build new business opportunities through the Digital Product Lifecycle