Multitier Digital Twin Approach for Agile Supply Chain Management

Abstract Multitier Digital Twin approach for agile supply chain management validated in the research lab. In the long run, the solution will ultimately help to reduce resources costs in production processes and throughput time of the supply chain. The Digital Twin approach can be applied in the manufacturing company and the supply chain and makes recommendations for making changes to the physical environment to meet the requirements of various specific orders. The Multitier Digital Twin approach is validated by modelling four tiers of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) company: business processes, operations workflow processes and work cells operations. The simulation study is performed to evaluate the achieved results. The guidelines are developed to connect and integrate business process tier models with operations workflow and work cell tiers models. The authors defend that the current research will help to create new digital solutions to increase manufacturing flexibility by moving toward the company’s strategic goals directly from the offer preparation stage. The authors have validated the Digital Twin approach for agile supply chain management in the fields of manufacturing. Nevertheless, the proposed approach is adaptable to other fields also, whereas the focal player or project owner selects the best KPIs that support the implementation of the chosen strategy. The paper includes a feasibility case study for the approval of findings, where small and medium enterprise (SMEs) from the manufacturing field business processes are connected to manufacturing processes and work cell models to achieve a common strategic goal of the company.