The concept of digital twin and digital shadow in manufacturing
Open accessAbstract
There still is a lacking comprehensive understanding of the relevant terms Digital Twin (DT) and Digital Shadow (DS) in particular within the application on the field of manufacturing technology. However, a common, transparent understanding of the concept and its requirements interferes with the implementation and application of these powerful tools. In this sense, the following publication gives a new definition of the concept within the field of manufacturing technology and shows specific applications.
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Digital shadows create a digital representation of physical objects or processes but operate with one-way data flow from physical to virtual, with no reverse interaction.
“Additionally, although DTs and digital shadows both create a digital representation of physical objects or processes, digital shadows operate with one-way data flow changes in the physical world to update the virtual model, but there is no reverse interaction [40].”
From Digital Twins in the IIoT: Current Practices and Future Directions Toward Industry 5.0 (2025) · cites this paper as [40]
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Cites
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
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Digital Twins in the IIoT: Current Practices and Future Directions Toward Industry 5.0
Mon, B. F., Hayajneh, M., Ali, N. A., Ullah, F., Ullah, H., & Alkobaisi, S. (2025) · Computers, Materials & Continua · doi:10.32604/cmc.2025.061411 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“…data flow characteristic of DTs. Additionally, although DTs and digital shadows both create a digital representation of physical objects or processes, digital shadows operate with one-way data flow changes in the physical world to update the virtual model, but there is no reverse interaction [40].”
- Authors
- Bergs, T., Gierlings, S., Auerbach, T., Klink, A., Schraknepper, D., & Augspurger, T.
- Affiliations
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT (DE)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Augspurger, Thorsten
- Venue
- Procedia CIRP
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021
- Volume
- 101
- Pages
- 81-84
- ISSN
- 2212-8271 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3198901528
- Cited by
- 212
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 11
- FWCI
- 16.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Procedia CIRP (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Fraunhofer-Publica (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) (submittedVersion)
- RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Digital Transformation in Industry
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Flexible and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Applied Advanced Technologies
- Keywords
- digital twin, digital shadow, manufacturing technology, conceptual definitions, terminology, implementation requirements
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