Digital Twin Concepts in Manufacturing Industries - A Literature Review and Avenues for Further Research

Within the profound digitalization in manufacturing industries, the concept of a virtual, digital equivalent to a physical product has gained increasingly attention. Labeled as digital twin, product avatar, or cyber-physical equivalence, various manifestations in different contexts can be detected in existing literature. Although both practitioners and researchers predict those digital twin concepts a bright future, it is not clear what the current state of research is. Hence, guided by an established literature review methodology and grounded on an in-depth analysis of 38 articles published in the time period from 2001 to 2016, this paper (1) provides an overview on established concepts, (2) classifies the existing body of literature, (3) provides a lifecycle perspective on applications, and (4) suggests directions for further research. With the limitation of the representative and interpretive character, our review contributes by enhancing transparency and understanding of digital twin concepts and supplying ideas and directions for future work.