Integration of digital twin and BIM technologies within factories of the future

Abstract. With the development of information technologies for industrial plants, more and more tools for digital design, creation and operation of industrial facilities are emerged. In particular, significant success in development of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Digital Twin technologies (DT) should be noted, which act as tools for digital transformation and representation for construction and production technologies respectively. In this regard, in this article, the principles and methods of integrating BIM and DT technologies within the framework of the so-called “Factories of the Future” (FoF) are formulated. Wherein the physical twin of FoF includes both production technologies and production infrastructure with buildings, structures and systems included in it, while particular attention is given to Operation and Maintenances (O&M) stage of object lifecycle which is less developed in comparison with design and creation stages. In addition, this paper also considers the role of systems information modeling (SIM) in such objects. Moreover, the concept of “digital asset”, closely related to the FoF, is examined and semantically analyzed, especially from information ownership point of view. The features of convergence of BIM and DT technologies are analyzed, and the levels of development of these technologies are compared. Finally, the directions of further research in this interdisciplinary branch of researches and development are formulated.