Knowledge mapping of digital twin and physical internet in supply chain management: a systematic literature review

Physical Internet (PI) is an open global logistics system of which components are hyperconnected for increased efficiency and sustainability. Digital twin (DT), referring to the virtual representation of a physical object, is well-perceived as a key driver in the development of PI-based Supply Chain Management (SCM). Due to the capabilities of real-time monitoring and evaluation of large-scale complex systems, significant research efforts have been made to exploit values of PI/DT in SCM. Despite this, the current literature remained largely unstructured and scattered due to a lack of systematic literature reviews to synergise research findings, analyse the evolution of research fronts and extract emerging trends in the field. To address this issue, the paper deploys a bibliometric knowledge mapping approach to provide a bird’s eye view of the current research status in the PI/DT-SCM area. Using CiteSpace’s keyword co-occurrence network, 518 journal articles are clustered into 10 key research streams on PI/DT applications in: job shop scheduling, smart manufacturing design, PI-based SCM, manufacturing virtualisation, information management, sustainability development, data analytics, manufacturing operations management, simulation and optimisation, and assembly process planning. Based on citation burst rate, keywords representing research frontiers of the PI/DT are detected and their temporal evolutions are discussed. Likewise, some identified emerging research trends are production process and system, robotics, computer architecture, and cost. Finally, seven future research directions are suggested, which emphasise on several PI/DT-related issues, including business ecosystem, sustainability development, SC downstream management, cognitive thinking in Industry 5.0, citizen twin in digital society, and SC resilience.