Artificial intelligence (AI) was key to Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) impressive surge this year, as customers lined up to buy its graphics processing units (GPUs) to train their AI models. But AI isn't the only lucrative opportunity the semiconductor giant is tapping into lately.

Nvidia's chips are also being used to improve the efficiency of factories' operations. Well-known automakers like Mercedes-Benz and turned to Nvidia to help them design their factories virtually before starting the actual physical construction. These virtual representations of real spaces are known as digital twins, and they are going to play a central role in what Deloitte calls the fourth industrial revolution.

Deloitte points out that the fourth industrial revolution -- popularly known as Industry 4.0 -- "is the logical next step in integrating more technology into the production environment in order to optimize production and increase revenue." Digital twins present one of the best ways to improve productivity and operations by integrating technology into the manufacturing process.

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Source Fool.com