Events and Trade Shows

Moderation of the minitrack (part of the Decision Analytics and Service Sciences track)

Simulation Modeling and Digital Twins for Decision Making in the Age of Industry 4.0

Sebastian Lang, Fraunhofer IFF, Steffen Strassburger, TU Ilmenau, Stefan Galka, OTH Regensburg, Tobias Reggelin, OVGU Magdeburg

Simulation models are indispensable for the planning, control and optimization of processes and systems in all areas, for instance manufacturing, production, logistics, traffic, and many more. Key concepts of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing, such as the digital twin, are essentially based on simulation modelling methods. The benefits of simulation models are numerous and reach from classical verification of planning results up to data synthesis for AI methods or knowledge discovery through data or process mining. Furthermore, simulation modeling has become essential for the application of powerful optimization methods, such as genetic or swarm-based algorithms, or for the deployment of advanced machine learning techniques, in particular reinforcement learning. The minitrack aims at attracting contributions with a focus on simulation modeling and digital twins and decision making in the context of Industry 4.0. Methods of interest include discrete-event simulation, discrete-rate simulation, hybrid simulation, system dynamics simulation, the combination of simulation modeling with machine learning or optimization heuristics, prescriptive analytics, and adaptive systems. Topics of interest also include strategies for the successful application of simulation modeling and digital twins to real-world problems as well as reports on the successful construction of digital twins for real-world production and logistics systems. Furthermore, this minitrack addresses simulation education and simulation models used for education and training in manufacturing and logistics.

Selected authors of accepted conference papers will be invited to submit an extended version of their paper to the Journal of Simulation.