In-depth analysis of organisational structures for digital twin ecosystems

The Digital Twin (DT) plays a crucial role in the digital transformation era by providing a bidirectional synchronized digital representation of an asset, capable of performing real-time monitoring, simulation, and data analysis. Generally, DTs are designed as single units following a centralised approach. However, this paradigm is evolving towards DT ecosystems, consisting of a network of multiple interconnected DTs. The benefits of such ecosystems depend on their intended purpose and application, which are strongly influenced by the design and structural configuration adopted during implementation. This paper aims to analyse different organisational structures, namely centralised, hierarchical, heterarchical, and holonic, for the design, development, and implementation of DT ecosystems, assessing their benefits and challenges across a set of aspects. A case study of a modular conveyor transfer system was used to test the different organisational structures, supporting the comparative analysis and the discussion of the research challenges related to this topic.