Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

D.B.A.

Degree Granting Department

Information Systems and Decision Sciences

Major Professor

T. Grandon Gill, D.B.A.

Co-Major Professor

Mark H. Taylor, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sunil Mithas, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert Tiller, D.B.A.

Committee Member

Loran Jarrett, D.B.A.

Keywords

3D Model, Industry 4.0, Information Management, Lifecycle

Abstract

The Digital Twins of complex facilities, specifically 3D models created during their design, is a potentially valuable information asset. This three- article dissertation explores the business case for firms in the petrochemical process industry to manage throughout the facility lifecycle. A maturity model is provided to illustrate the stages of digital twin evolution and serves as a tool to help communicate each of the five levels of digital twin maturity achievable in various use cases. An industry analysis reviews existing literature and proposes a model to assess informing or insight value of digital twins from three perspectives. Next, an empirical findings article documents action research efforts of an anonymized oil and gas firm (referred to as “SuperMajor”) to investigate the status of digital twin lifecycle management across its enterprise. The insights from the qualitative case study of a facilitated internal focus group session is compared to a transcript of a process industry standards organization (USPI-NL) project kick off meeting, providing external validation of the findings in the action research study that digital twins are valued, but underappreciated assets. Finally, the third article journals the efforts of USPI-NL to develop a business case to manage 3D models throughout the lifecycle of complex facilities. The engaged scholar/researcher employs elaborated Action Design Research to evaluate the development stage of artifact creation and assists USPI-NL in designing meaningful artifacts that accomplish their desired objective and provide further support for adoption and maintenance of digital twin technology into the operating phase of complex facilities. Results include a compelling case for lifecycle investment in digital twins.

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