Digital Twin in Services and Industrial Product Service Systems:: Review and Analysis

Abstract

Digital Twin is a term that was given to the concept of a virtual, digital equivalent of a physical product. However, most research to-date focusses on the monitoring of production equipment or large assets. This neglects the important role of services and Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS2) in value creation throughout a product life cycle. In response, this study used a systematic literature review to assess the current state-of-the-art of the literature on Digital Twin in the context of product service systems. An original sample of 59 papers was carefully analyzed, but only 2 studies appeared to focus on product service systems. Most of the remaining literature focusses on the use of Digital Twin for some forms of maintenance service. This study therefore calls for more research on the use of Digital Twin technology in the context of IPS2 and outlines possible applications for the stages in a closed loop product life cycle.