Design and Implementation of a Smart Manufacturing Line with Digital Twin Integration

Abstract

Industry 4.0 has transformed the manufacturing paradigms due to the rapid development of a seamless real-time connectivity, real time decision-making with the aim of accelerating cyber-physical systems convergence. Digital twin (DT) solutions have come out as an enabling technology to transform the way of actions and provide a dynamic high-fidelity digital representation of physical assets, processes, and systems to facilitate predictive, adaptive, and optimized operations. The current paper introduces the detailed architecture and application of a digital Twin-enabled smart manufacturing line to align and synchronize virtual and physical operations to deliver better efficiency, quality and resiliency. Its proposed architecture includes IoT sensing modules to capture real-time operational data, edge computing nodes that process in low-latency preprocessing and anomaly detection, cloud based analytics to carry out long term predictive modeling, and a digital twin infrastructure to experience immersive simulation and two-way control. Full-scale testing of prototype manufacturing line was done including the development of robotic assembly modules, RFID-enhanced conveyor belts, and AI-equipped quality inspection stations and the DT model was built on CAD-simulation enabled designs and linked through industrial communication technologies like OPC UA, MQTT, etc. Real-time data between physical and virtual environments allowed the scheduling of proactive maintenance, optimization of processes in real-time and the virtual testing of production changes without the need to disconnect the live business. A 30-day experimental assessment noted significant performance improvements (14.7% in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), a 48.9% rise in mean time between failures (MTBF), a 6.5% boost in defect detection accuracy and a 15.6% growth in throughput over a standard conventional line). As the results demonstrate, the digital twin-based smart manufacturing not only increases the productivity of operations but also provides scalability, flexibility, and informed choices with regard to the dynamic demands of the industry. The work also gives a sensible and approved model of employing DT technology in manufacture systems, which can be accepted as a roadmap of future implementations of Industry 4.0-driven smart factories.