A Simulation Algorithm of a Digital Twin for Manual Assembly Process

Abstract

Digital twin (DT) is one of the key concepts for Industry 4.0 as it is a critical component in driving real-time simulation and decision making in complex systems. The existing scientific literature on Digital twin primarily refers to a product entity or a physical machine but the core concept can be applied to the entire product lifecycle, particularly the assembly process of a complex product system. In addition, majority of existing work focus on the Digital Twins of individual machines on a shop-floor. This paper focuses on aspects the process to build DTs of a production schedule for a complex defence weapon system. The process is inherently high variety and low quantity in a very manual assembly process. This paper consists of three elements. (1) It reviews the current state of art along with the research gap and discusses how DT can become a tool to the manual assembly process. (2) A data-driven simulation algorithm is proposed to model the complex and manual manufacturing process in a generic-reusable way. (3) Finally, an appropriate complex industrial case study is studied to exemplify the proposed framework. Results demonstrate that the production managers can make more informed early decisions that can help bring assembly schedules in check and limit wasteful efforts when disruptions in the supply chain of parts sourced for the assembly occur.