Introduction to the Minitrack "Simulation Modeling and Digital Twins for Decision Making in the Age of Industry 4.0"

The minitrack contains contributions with a focus on simulation modeling and digital twins and decision making in the context of Industry 4.0. The use of simulation models and digital twins is manifold, from planning to virtual commission and real-time operational decision support. Cyber-physical systems integrate the real world and the virtual world to enable decision making in the age of Industry 4.0. For example, customer decisions and supply disruptions which directly influence manufacturing and logistics systems require immediate decisions. Thus, models must have the capability to support decision making in manufacturing as well as in internal and external logistics in real-time. Methods 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. Furthermore, this minitrack addresses simulation education and simulation models used for education and training in manufacturing and logistics.