Digital twins in manufacturing: a taxonomy for manufacturing applications
Jan C. Aurich, Jan Mertes, Marcel Wagner, Marius Schmitz, Matthias Klar, Bahram Ravani
Abstract
The concept of digital twins (DTs) revolutionises modern manufacturing by linking the physical manufacturing system with a digital system. However, a lack of uniform agreement on the definition of DTs and consensus on their applications prevents the utilization of their full potential, as potential synergies in research and application are difficult to identify. This paper aims to close this gap by developing a taxonomy for the classification of DT-applications in manufacturing, facilitating the comparison of DT-applications. A meta-analysis is used to find common dimensions for DT-applications in manufacturing. Based on this analysis, a taxonomy called Digital Twin - Manufacturing Application Taxonomy (DT-MAT) for DT-applications is developed. The taxonomy developed differentiates between manufacturing system levels (factory, machine, process level), purposes (analysis, monitoring and control, prediction), and model types (black-box, grey-box, white-box). Afterward, a review of current literature regarding implemented applications of DTs in manufacturing is presented and used to validate the applicability of the taxonomy. As a result, an overview of recent advancements in application of DTs in manufacturing is outlined and some of the directions for future research are highlighted.