Digital Twins for Supply Chains: Main Functions, Existing Applications, and Research Opportunities

In recent times, manufacturing industries and their related supply chains have faced growing internal and external pressures. Due to the complex nature of global supply chain networks and the increased frequency of disruptive events, there is a pressing need to implement digital tools to support these industries. Digital twins have gained significant interest from industry and research communities due to their ability to provide valuable services in the short term. While there have been many contributions on digital twin-based methodologies for system design and production planning and control, the use of digital twins in supply chain management still needs to be improved. This paper presents an overview of the existing contributions on digital twins for supply chains. Starting from a preliminary literature review on the topic, relevant works are selected and used to identify insights on the current development level and future research opportunities.