Digital Twin (DT) based methodology to support effective design of industrial production lines

The paper proposes a digital twin (DT) based methodology to support effective design of industrial production lines. In particular the authors define the design guidelines of an industrial production line by using an approach based on multiple performance measures, Design of Experiments (DOE) and multiple performance measures. The industrial plant being considered is made up by 4 production areas and it manufactures conveyors, whose function is to separate metal or wood chip, as outcome of some machining processes (boring, drilling, turning, threading and milling) from lubricant coolants. A DT has been used to assess the effect of different design parameters on several performance measure. The quantitative evaluation of the effects of the multiple design parameters on the multiple performance measures is achieved by using the DOE being validated by means of the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis of the results leads to the proposal of the production line design guidelines.