Smart Factory Digital Twin for Performance Measurement, Optimization, and Prediction

The fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, introduces the vision for a smart factory. A smart factory has highly flexible and efficient manufacturing processes that produce high quality products with minimum waste. A Digital Twin integrates the 3-D design model of a physical object such as a machine with the real-time data generated from that machine. Digital Twins are often used to monitor products while they are being actively used by customers. Instead, in this chapter, the focus is on the application of Digital Twin technology in manufacturing a product. The use of Digital Twin technology for performance management is applicable across different manufacturing processes including continuous, discrete, batch, additive and job shop. Traditionally, Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is used to start manufacturing and track manufacturing performance. This chapter explains why it makes sense to have the Digital Twin manage manufacturing performance. Universally, manufacturing performance is measured in terms of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Increasing OEE allows manufacturers to produce more finished products with existing resources. The requirements and solution architecture for the Smart Factory Digital Twin (SFDT) for performance management is described in three parts: Measurement, Optimization, and Prediction. The first part is about the SFDT solution architecture for measuring the OEE and visualization. OEE visualization helps factory leadership understand the magnitude of availability, performance, speed, and yield losses. Next the SFDT solution architecture for Performance Optimization is explained. This includes the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC) and use of Augmented Reality (AR) applications. In terms of performance prediction, the use of SFDT for determining Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of physical objects such as machines and “What-If” analysis through simulation is explained. In summary, SFDT enables measuring, optimizing, and predicting the manufacturing performance of a smart factory. The discussion in this chapter is not tied to any commercial product or framework.