Bentley’s iTwin: Innovation for Sustainable Supply Chains

Bentley Systems is revolutionising supply chain sustainability through its digital twin tool, the iTwin Experience. 

Earlier this year, Bentley took home two wins and a commendation at the 2025 Sustainability Delivery Awards for its innovation.

The offering is meeting the growing demand for increased efficiency and lifecycle emission reduction, delivering both seamlessly through its data-driven engineering platform. 

The iTwin Experience allows teams to visualise embodied carbon (the emissions associated with the materials and construction of infrastructure), automate carbon reporting and evaluate design options in real time. These tools give users the ability to make early decisions that reduce carbon and cost, while also helping to align teams working across different parts of the supply chain.

"Digital twins are essential for sustainable development," said Chris Bradshaw, Bentley’s Chief Sustainability and Education Officer, about the team’s award win.

According to Chris: "helping users optimally balance environmental, social and economic outcomes" is what makes the platform valuable for professionals across the value chain. 

Live data reduces supply chain delays

Bentley's iTwin Platform is a cloud-based solution that goes beyond traditional 3D modelling.

It creates digital twins – dynamic, digital versions of infrastructure assets that synchronise continuously with real-world data. These models integrate information from engineering designs, IoT sensors and 3D scans to reflect the current physical and operational state of an asset.

The system also keeps a change log of every update, ensuring contributors across the supply chain – from engineers to contractors – are always working from a shared and current version of the model.

For supply chains, this means faster planning, fewer disruptions and better outcomes across procurement, design and delivery.

For large-scale projects, this capability is already changing timelines.

Bentley notes that, in the energy industry, digital twins have helped reduce refinery ramp-up (increase production capacity) from six months to just one week and have shaved 20 days off shutdown schedules – translating into lower costs and reduced carbon impacts. These results are only possible when accurate data is shared openly across a project, something iTwin is built to support.

A Scope 3 solution?

Bentley isn't alone in its thinking, as expert Professor Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes, Head of the Centre for Supply Chain Improvement at the University of Derby, explains.

"To develop a Scope 3 plan, an initial step would be to engage key partners and map the full supply chain," he says. 

"High-impact areas can then be prioritised by undertaking materiality assessments and integrating emission metrics into the design of products, procurement and logistics.”

​​​​​​​Scope 3 emissions are notoriously the most difficult to measure and reduce, so by offering integrated carbon analysis within its digital twins, Bentley is supporting efforts to track and cut emissions across a project’s full lifecycle.

The Professor also points out the critical importance of digital tools in this process: “LCA platforms and digital twins can be employed to stimulate impact and evaluate progress. As part of the plan, it would also be critical to embed Scope 3 thinking in the culture of an organisation.”

Meanwhile, Chris ties Bentley’s approach to sustainability to a clear goal: “Our sustainability vision reflects the urgent need to future-proof global infrastructure.”