A Review of The Concept of ‘Supply Chain Digital Twin’ in The Era of Industry 4.0

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering, Malek-Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

2 School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Today’s supply chain is totally different from what we had a decade ago. The direct result of the impact of technology on supply chains includes increasing its complexity and dynamism, while adopting an agile approach has never been so important. With the COVID-19 challenge, real-time data availability is an important competitive advantage. Industry 4.0 includes a technology framework that focuses on digitalization and analytics capabilities for real-time event detection. This is where digital twins come in. The digital twin is essentially a copy of the virtual supply chain, which consists of hundreds of assets, warehouses, logistics and inventory positions, and it has attracted more attention in the industry by improving its technical and computational capabilities in operations technology. In this article, we examine the concept and importance of digital twin and its benefits and applications in supply chain. After reviewing the recent trends in digital supply chains and the impact of smart digital technologies in the Industry 4.0 on it, we will examine the transformative role of one of the most influential digital technologies in the supply chain, namely supply chain digital twin.

Keywords