The adoption of Digital Twins: Drivers, enablers, barriers, challenges, and benefits

The Fourth Industrial Revolution provides a wave of smart innovative technologies, where the Digital Twin is one of them. A Digital Twin is seen as a digital replica of a physical asset, process, or system, allowing real-time monitoring, simulations, and analysis for better decision-making. Despite its benefits, few have implemented Digital Twins and begun utilizing its value. Thus, this thesis investigates how organizations can get started with a Digital Twin by looking at the different elements of the implementation process. A systematic literature review was conducted to obtain a background foundation of Digital Twin adoption. The review aimed to identify what existing research had found as drivers and enablers, barriers, challenges during implementation, and benefits provided by a Digital Twin. To provide new research on the field, we followed a qualitative research method. Through 19 semi-structured interviews of Digital Twin experts, findings indicate that factors driving and enabling Digital Twin adoption include data access, staying competitive, improved asset management, and management support. The study also shows that costs, competence, and lack of incentives are the most significant challenges related to the implementation. Furthermore, it is important to be aware of your own needs and what you want the Digital Twin to solve, in order to measure a successful implementation. Interviewing experts with Digital Twin experience identified benefits such as proactive maintenance, improved decision-making, simulations, and increased efficiency. This study contributes to valuable perspectives on Digital Twin knowledge and its implications. Practitioners can use these findings to achieve awareness and knowledge related to implementation challenges, and further use this theory to see how the benefits of a Digital Twin can be realized

The adoption of Digital Twins: Drivers, enablers, barriers, challenges, and benefits

The Fourth Industrial Revolution provides a wave of smart innovative technologies, where the Digital Twin is one of them. A Digital Twin is seen as a digital replica of a physical asset, process, or system, allowing real-time monitoring, simulations, and analysis for better decision-making. Despite its benefits, few have implemented Digital Twins and begun utilizing its value. Thus, this thesis investigates how organizations can get started with a Digital Twin by looking at the different elements of the implementation process. A systematic literature review was conducted to obtain a background foundation of Digital Twin adoption. The review aimed to identify what existing research had found as drivers and enablers, barriers, challenges during implementation, and benefits provided by a Digital Twin. To provide new research on the field, we followed a qualitative research method. Through 19 semi-structured interviews of Digital Twin experts, findings indicate that factors driving and enabling Digital Twin adoption include data access, staying competitive, improved asset management, and management support. The study also shows that costs, competence, and lack of incentives are the most significant challenges related to the implementation. Furthermore, it is important to be aware of your own needs and what you want the Digital Twin to solve, in order to measure a successful implementation. Interviewing experts with Digital Twin experience identified benefits such as proactive maintenance, improved decision-making, simulations, and increased efficiency. This study contributes to valuable perspectives on Digital Twin knowledge and its implications. Practitioners can use these findings to achieve awareness and knowledge related to implementation challenges, and further use this theory to see how the benefits of a Digital Twin can be realized

Towards Developing a Digital Twin Implementation Framework for Manufacturing Systems

This research studies the implementation of digital twins in manufacturing systems. Digital transformation is relevant due to changing manufacturing techniques and user demands. It brings new business opportunities, changes organizations, and allows factories to compete in the digital era. Nevertheless, digital transformation presents many uncertainties that could bring problems to a manufacturing system. Some potential problems are loss of data, cybersecurity threats, unpredictable behavior, and so on. For instance, there are doubts about how to integrate the physical and virtual spaces. Digital twin (DT) is a modern technology that can enable the digital transformation of manufacturing companies. DT works by collecting real-time data of machines, products, and processes. DT monitors and controls operations in real-time helping in the identification of problems. It performs simulations to improve manufacturing processes and end-products. DT presents several benefits for manufacturing systems. It gives feedback to the physical system, increases the system’s reliability and availability, reduces operational risks, helps to achieve organizational goals, reduces operations and maintenance costs, predicts machine failures, etc. DT presents all these benefits without affecting the system’s operation. xv This dissertation analyzes the implementation of digital twins in manufacturing systems. It uses systems thinking methods and tools to study the problem space and define the solution space. Some of these methods are the conceptagon, systemigram, and the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ in Russian acronym). It also uses systems thinking tools such as the CATWOE, the 9-windows tool, and the ideal final result (IFR). This analysis gives some insights into the digital twin implementation issues and potential solutions. One of these solutions is to build a digital twin implementation framework Next, this study proposes the development of a small-scale digital twin implementation framework. This framework could help users to create digital twins in manufacturing systems. The method to build this framework uses a Model-Based Systems Engineering approach and the systems engineering “Vee” model. This framework encompasses many concepts from the digital twin literature. The framework divides these concepts along three spaces: physical, virtual, and information. It also includes other concepts such as digital thread, data, ontology, and enabling technologies. Finally, this dissertation verifies the correctness of the proposed framework. The verification process shows that the proposed framework can develop digital twins for manufacturing systems. For that purpose, this study creates a process digital twin simulation using the proposed framework. This study presents a mapping and a workflow diagram to help users use the proposed framework. Then, it compares the digital twin simulation with the digital twin user and system requirements. The comparison finds that the proposed framework was built right

Improving the Theoretical and Methodological Framework for Implementing Digital Twin Technology in Various Sectors of Agriculture

The aim of this study is to systematize and improve the theoretical and methodological framework for implementing digital twin technology. The study focuses on digital twins in agriculture. This paper is designed to solve the scientific problem associated with the development of a methodological framework for the implementation of digital twins in the work of agricultural organizations. Using methods of analysis of socio-economic phenomena and processes on the basis of a set of scientific approaches, economic-statistical analysis, and others, the study considers the importance of digital twins of agricultural machinery and equipment, identifies trends in agriculture determined by digitalization, and suggests promising areas for digital twins of agricultural machinery and equipment. This paper also examines the theoretical basis for the implementation of digital twin technology in the agricultural sector of production. New research results complement the theoretical provisions on the essence of digital twin technology; develop the methodological provisions of digital twin technology, represented by the study of their significance, principles, and features of operation. The study may be seen as academically novel as it reveals the prerequisites for implementing digital technology in agriculture as well as clarifies and improves the theoretical and methodological provisions of the application of digital twin technology in various sectors of agriculture. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-05 Full Text: PD

A Review of Building Information Modeling and Simulation as Virtual Representations Under the Digital Twin Concept

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a highly promising technique for achieving digitalization in the construction industry, widely used in modern construction projects for digitally representing facilities. Nevertheless, retains limitations in terms of representing construction operations. The digital twin concept may potentially overcome these limitations and initiate advanced digital transformation in the construction industry as it has revolutionized the product lifecycle management in the manufacturing industry. This research provides a critical review of applying digital twin in the construction industry. Altogether, 140 papers from related journals and databases were reviewed. The digital aspect of twinning consists of BIM and simulation modeling. These two techniques have been used to create virtual or digital representations of actual buildings and real-world construction processes. However, integrating and applying BIM and simulation modeling according to the digital twin concept remains to be fully studied. Comprehensive evaluations of BIM, simulation modeling, and digital twin will provide a well-defined framework for this research, to identify direction and potential for digital twin in the construction industry, thereby progressing to the next level of digitalization and improvement in construction management practice

A Review of the Digital Twin Technology in the AEC-FM Industry

The Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC-FM) industry is increasingly affected by digital technologies that monitor sensor network data and control automation systems. Advances in digital technologies like Digital Twin offer a high-level representation of buildings and their assets by integrating the physical and digital world. This paper examines patterns, gaps, and trends in the AEC-FM sector and contributes to digitalization and automation solutions for building management. This work covers a broad range of research topics, from intelligent information management of complex models to building information management and the interaction of building systems, where researchers are increasingly interested in using the Digital Twin to manage their information and in developing new research lines focused on data interchange and the interoperability of building information modeling (BIM) and facility management (FM). After a complete bibliometric search of several databases and following selection criteria, 77 academic publications about the Digital Twin application in the AEC-FM industry were labeled and clustered accordingly. This study analyzed in detail the concept of key technologies, including “Digital Twin in Facility Lifecycle Management,” “Digital Twin-Information Integration Standards,” “Digital Twin-Based Occupants Centric Building Design,” “Digital Twin-Based Predictive Maintenance,” “Semantic Digital Twin for Facility Maintenance,” and “Digital Twin-Based Human Knowledge.” The findings show that information standardization is the first major hurdle that must be overcome before the actual use of Digital Twin can be realized in the AEC-FM industry. Based on that, this paper provides a conceptual framework of Digital Twin for building management as a starting point for future research.publishedVersio

Digital Twin in the IoT context: a survey on technical features, scenarios and architectural models

Digital Twin is an emerging concept that is gaining attention in various industries. It refers to the ability to clone a physical object into a software counterpart. The softwarized object, termed logical object, reflects all the important properties and characteristics of the original object within a specific application context. To fully determine the expected properties of the Digital Twin, this paper surveys the state of the art starting from the original definition within the manufacturing industry. It takes into account related proposals emerging in other fields, namely, Augmented and Virtual Reality (e.g., avatars), Multi-agent systems, and virtualization. This survey thereby allows for the identification of an extensive set of Digital Twin features that point to the “softwarization” of physical objects. To properly consolidate a shared Digital Twin definition, a set of foundational properties is identified and proposed as a common ground outlining the essential characteristics (must-haves) of a Digital Twin. Once the Digital Twin definition has been consolidated, its technical and business value is discussed in terms of applicability and opportunities. Four application scenarios illustrate how the Digital Twin concept can be used and how some industries are applying it. The scenarios also lead to a generic DT architectural Model. This analysis is then complemented by the identification of software architecture models and guidelines in order to present a general functional framework for the Digital Twin. The paper, eventually, analyses a set of possible evolution paths for the Digital Twin considering its possible usage as a major enabler for the softwarization process

Bridging The Gap: A Framework For Structuring The Asset Administration Shell In Digital Twin Implementation For Industry 4.0

The digital twin is a core technology for implementing Industry 4.0 scenarios in scientific and industrial applications. One upcoming variant of the digital twin is the concept of the asset administration shell, representing an approach to standardization. This approach must be adapted to specific use cases and applied in a target-oriented manner. However, no comprehensive guidance exists on structuring and implementing asset administration shells based on the digital twin in manufacturing environments. This issue pertains to defining and organizing the relevant data and mapping domain-specific limitations and characteristics within the hierarchical structure of the asset administration shell's components. This paper introduces an approach to structuring the asset administration shell to address this gap. This approach capitalizes on domain-specific expertise, industry standards, and established best practices, providing a framework. We validate the presented approach by applying it to the use case of distributed high-rate electrolyser production. The overarching objective of this research is to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and practical applications

Digital twin concept applied to simulation and performance reporting for printed circuit board manufacturing

This industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is now taking place due to technol- ogy requirements. With an ever growing world population, new demands rise, henceforth better, more optimized, more customized, and faster product manufacturing must be achieved. A way to do this is by implementing Smart Manufacturing methods in indus- trial environments, which can be accomplished by using a Digital Twin solution. This dissertation focuses on expanding an already existing Digital Twin, developed by Visteon Corporation, which purpose is to modulate the productive capacity of Visteon’s PCB (Print Circuit Board) production lines. This extension consists of achieving one of the key advantages of using a Digital Twin solution, making predictions regarding a system’s real performance, that in this case, are the production lines. The extension further allows better planning for future changes.A atual revolução industrial, também conhecida como Indústria 4.0, está a ocorrer de- vido a necessidades tecnológicas. Com um aumento constante da população mundial, surgem novas exigências, por isso é necessário alcançar uma melhor, mais otimizada, mais customizada e mais rápida manufatura de produtos. Uma maneira de o fazer é implementando métodos de Smart Manufacturing em ambientes industriais, que pode ser alcançado através de uma solução de Digital Twin. O foco desta dissertação é expandir um Digital Twin já existente, que foi desenvolvido pela Visteon Corporation, cujo objetivo é modular a capacidade produtiva das linhas de produção de PCB (Print Circuit Board) da Visteon. Esta extensão tem como objetivo atingir uma das vantagens mais significativas do uso de uma solução de Digital Twin, fazer previsões da performance real de um sistema, que neste caso, são as linhas de produção. A extensão permite também fazer planeamentos mais rigorosos para o futuro

Digital Twin : Vision, Benefits, Boundaries, and Creation for Buildings

The concept of a digital twin has been used in some industries where an accurate digital model of the equipment can be used for predictive maintenance. The use of a digital twin for performance is critical, and for capital-intensive equipment such as jet engines it proved to be successful in terms of cost savings and reliability improvements. In this paper, we aim to study the expansion of the digital twin in including building life cycle management and explore the benefits and shortcomings of such implementation. In four rounds of experimentation, more than 25,000 sensor reading instances were collected, analyzed, and utilized to create and test a limited digital twin of an office building facade element. This is performed to point out the method of implementation, highlight the benefits gained from digital twin, and to uncover some of the technical shortcomings of the current Internet of Things systems for this purpose.Peer reviewe