Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art digital twin and digital thread technology in industrial operations. Both are transformational technologies that have the advantage of improving the efficiency of current design and manufacturing. Digital twin is an important element of the Industry 4.0 digitalization process; however, the huge amount of data that are generated and collected by a digital twin offer challenges in handling, processing and storage. The paper aims to report on the development of a new framework that combines the digital twin and digital thread for better data management in order to drive innovation, improve the production process and performance and ensure continuity and traceability of information. The digital twin/thread framework incorporates behavior simulation and physical control components, in which these two components rely on the connectivity between the twin and thread for information flow and exchange to drive innovation. The twin/thread framework encompasses specifications that include organizational architecture layout, security, user access, databases and hardware and software requirements. It is envisaged that the framework will be applicable to enhancing the optimization of operational processes and traceability of information in the physical world, especially in an Industry Shipyard 4.0.
Highlights
Digital twin (DTW) technology is the cornerstone of digital transformation, which we are currently witnessing in the new industry 4.0 revolution
The advantage of the new twin/thread framework is that the users can use DTW to set up virtual models to test out scenarios to investigate where problems might have occurred and help them to predict what they might do to rectify the problems
From the literature reviewed in this article, it can be concluded that these technologies are still in their early stages and further research related to implementation is needed, especially in framework development and in data processing, storage and security
Summary
Digital twin (DTW) technology is the cornerstone of digital transformation, which we are currently witnessing in the new industry 4.0 revolution. In addition to companies in the business of manufacturing products, companies in other sectors such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a pioneer of the DTW, used this technology to develop ultra-high fidelity simulation models of aerospace vehicles. These simulations enabled NASA’s engineering team to predict the future performance and status of their vehicles accurately in the form of the “factors-of-safety” during design and certification phases. The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a new framework that combines the DTW and DTH for better data management in order to drive innovation, time to market and improve the production process and performance. We are providing an example of combining DTW and DTH in industry 4.0 Shipyard to demonstrate how this new framework is going to work, in Australian context
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