Abstract
The main aim of this PhD thesis is to study the Digital Twin as a strategic tool within manufacturing companies. Given the novelty of the technology, the Digital Twin has not yet been sufficiently investigated in the literature, especially from the point of view of its adoption within companies. Therefore, this thesis aims to identify the main implementation challenges to Digital Twin in manufacturing plants, as well as to determine effective countermeasures and tools that could help managers and practitioners in the implementation phase. In addition, this paper further aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Digital Twin as a key operations support tool.
This research proposes a literature study aimed at identifying the main challenges and countermeasures to the adoption of a Digital Twin in manufacturing companies. In addition, through the use of a Delphi Study, this study aims to extend and validate the previously identified challenges and countermeasures. Moreover, this study addresses the determination of the effects of Digital Twin on the manufacturing reality. In doing so, the research proposes two main contributions. First, by means of a simulated scenario study, the impact of Digital Twin on interlinking systems is verified, particularly when compared with some existing classical systems. Second, the study aims at evaluating the actual effectiveness of a Digital Twin for the dynamic rebalancing of human-intensive assembly lines.
This thesis contributes at both scientific and empirical levels. First, the research aims at covering a literature gap on the general concept of Digital Twin adoption in manufacturing realities. In this way, the study contributes to the valorisation of a technology that is as effective as it is complex to implement. Second, the thesis provides valuable tools at managerial level. Indeed, this study aims at helping the adoption process of Digital Twin in manufacturing plants by managers. Moreover, through simulated scenario analysis, this research helps to determine when the Digital Twin can actually be an improvement on the current situation.