Samenvatting

SME production companies producing high variety/low volume discrete products face challenging customer demands. These result in complex planning issues due to the tension between optimizing a low volume flow and optimizing efficiency parameters. Current planning and control systems do not support this kind of complexity. A process digital twin supports an integral optimization of flow and efficiency in real time. The use of real time data raises new questions such as: what decision-making level does the twin needs to address (e.g., operational, tactical) and what does this mean for the organization. Existing theory does not adequately cover modeling of relations between the shopfloor, total organization and the process digital twin. We suggest a systems approach in which the structure of the digital twin model and the organizational design are both considered. We discuss practical issues and show a systems framework for digital twin modeling.