Digital twins’ implications for innovation

ABSTRACT Digital transformation and emerging technologies create new business opportunities that differ from traditional requirements. Digital twins, referring to digital replicas of a physical entity, are rapidly developing and creating novel innovation opportunities. This study focuses on increasing the understanding of the implications of the use of digital twins for innovation, and case studies were used to gather evidence. The study offers an interesting contribution to the literature on digital twins, presenting a framework that demonstrates how digital twins are characterised, and how they contribute (impact) and are used (scope) in innovation processes in the context of innovation and technology management. In addition, the findings provide interesting implications for different practitioners interested in the utilisation of digital twins. Using the results of this study, managers can enhance their companies’ digital transformation by acknowledging the multiple uses of digital twins.


Introduction
Innovation and technology management in companies is increasingly being shaped by the business potential of distinct digital technologies, such as digital twins (Hilbolling et al. 2020;Blichfeldt and Faullant 2021;Muscio and Ciffolilli 2020;Urbinati et al. 2020).Digital twins are digital replicas of physical entities such as products, processes, or systems.Digital twins differ from other related concepts in the level of data integration between the physical and digital counterparts, as they are fully integrated with real-time data exchange (Kritzinger et al. 2018).Technical solutions offered by digital twins are rapidly developing, and from a technical point of view, their application is constantly becoming easier and more cost-effective.Research on digital twins has mainly been conducted in different fields of engineering science.However, a meaningful application of digital twins requires an understanding of the connection of the concept to innovation.Tao et al. (2019) argue that little effort has been devoted to exploring the applicability of digital twins for product design with respect to how communication, synergy, and coevolution between a physical product and its digital representation (virtual product) can lead to a more informed, expedited, and innovative design process.
Digital twins provide several innovation opportunities, as they offer great avenues for the interoperation and fusion of the physical world and the cyberworld of manufacturing (Liu et al. 2019).Digital twins can facilitate visualisation, promote collaboration, and further decision-making, among others (Bao et al. 2019).More specifically, Zhou et al. (2020) suggest that digital twins can help in understanding, predicting, or optimising the performance of manufacturing processes through an intelligent analysis and decision-making process enabled by dynamic knowledge and skills.Tao et al. (2019) present that digital twins are mostly used for fault diagnosis, predictive maintenance, and performance analysis, with only some effort devoted to more innovative design processes or innovations.Despite the growing trend toward digital twins-driven innovations and their commercialisation, the literature is deficient in several important ways.Business and management researchers have reported only a few studies on the utilisation of digital twins.Since digital twins play an important role in providing value for stakeholders and generating profit, a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of digital twins is required (Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020).Hence, the implications of digital twin utilisation should be systematically studied.
There has been a significant rise in digital twin studies in recent years.Despite the profusion of digital twin studies published, most of the studies focus on the technical aspects.Little is known about how digital twins are integrated into a firms' innovation development.This study contributes to previously identified research gaps by investigating the utilisation of digital twins in innovation.The research question is as follows: What implications do digital twins have for innovation?The study presents a framework that demonstrates how digital twins are characterised, and how they contribute (impact) and are used (scope) in innovation processes in the context of innovation and technology management.Thus, this study aims to enhance the understanding of the implications of using digital twins in the contexts of innovation and technology management.

The digital twin concept
The commonly agreed definition of a digital twin currently highlights two important features.First, a digital twin provides a connection between a physical entity and its virtual counterpart (He and Bai 2021).Second, the connection between the physical entity and its virtual twin is established by sensors to provide real-time information (Tao et al. 2019;Wang et al. 2017).As mentioned earlier, a digital twin is typically considered a digital replica of a living or nonliving entity (He and Bai 2021)-with a two-way dynamic mapping between a real-life object and its digital counterpart, which has a structure of connected data and metainformation (Aheleroff et al. 2021;Shao and Helu 2020;Tao et al. 2019;Zhou et al., 2020).A digital twin enables real-time data transfer by connecting physical and virtual entities (such as processes, products, assets, and personnel), making it possible for virtual entities to occur simultaneously with physical ones (He and Bai 2021).Digital twins have various characteristics and can be utilised in many phases of organisation, production, sales, and innovation processes and activities.The next section presents the possibilities of digital twins in the context of innovation.

Innovation as a process
The rise of digital twins includes transformations in technology and production (Cimino, Negri, and Fumagalli 2019;Liu et al. 2019;Tao et al. 2019).This, in turn, results in significant organisational implications (Parmar, Leiponen, and Thomas 2020), such as emphasising decision-making support for optimising production or maximising profitability (Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020).Thus, digital twins are changing the nature of innovation.Innovation, in general, can be viewed as 'a value-added novelty in economic and social spheres' (Crossan andApaydin 2010, 1155).Innovation has two roles: innovation as a process and innovation as an outcome (Crossan and Apaydin 2010).Regarding innovation as a process, the current digital era especially highlights the challenges of companies in generating innovation in isolation.This emphasises the locus of an innovation process, which may be either a firm-only or a network-level process (Crossan and Apaydin 2010).
In this sense, digital twins have various applications that can be exploited in different business areas (Fuller et al. 2020;Qi et al. 2021;Rasheed, San, and Kvamsdal 2020).As an innovation process, a digital twin enables collaboration throughout the value chain, not only in the integration and sharing of data between upstream and downstream companies but also in collaborative product development, manufacturing, operation, and maintenance (Cheng et al. 2020).Users can take part in the innovation and development processes of future products, services, processes, and business innovations via cloud computing (Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020;Zheng et al. 2018), enabling the development of innovation through cooperation both within the company and with external parties.Using digital twins in the design phase, users can monitor the progress of the design of a digital model, implement and test modifications to the model, and provide direct online feedback on product features to the company (Tao et al. 2019).

Innovation as an outcome
The other role of innovation-innovation as an outcome-considers innovation to be more than a creative process and includes utilisation (Crossan and Apaydin 2010).Prior research identifies different forms of innovation-namely, product innovation, service innovation, process innovation, and business model innovation.Product innovation refers to novel products targeted at technological competitiveness to serve the markets (Carboni and Russu 2018).Some scholars have defined service innovation as a specific type of product innovation connected to the actions by which services are designed or improved to meet customer needs (Wang et al. 2015).Process innovation covers the application of novel production, management, and process-related approaches (Wang and Ahmed 2004).Business model innovation is about 'designing a new or modifying the firm's extant activity system' (Amit and Zott 2010, 2).
In this sense, the introduction of digital twins provides novel innovation and value creation opportunities for industrial companies (Chirumalla 2021;Blichfeldt and Faullant 2021).Digital twins applications can be utilised in the design, production, and use phases of the product life cycle, allowing designers to digitalise, visualise, and materialise complex systems such as ships, aircraft, and factories, enabling product innovations (Qi et al. 2021).Digital twins can be used, for example, in digital design, where they can provide a framework for product design or the optimisation of physical parameters (Tao et al. 2019).In addition, services are an important component of digital twins.Liu et al. (2021) mention that the possible applications of digital twins as a service are predictive maintenance, fault detection and diagnosis, state monitoring, performance prediction, and virtual testing.When digital twins are utilised in service operations, they provide opportunities, for example, for preventive maintenance and equipment status monitoring (Errandonea, Beltrán, and Arrizabalaga 2020;Kritzinger et al. 2018).In addition, according to Qi et al. (2021), the potential of digital twins as a service is related to simulation, verification, monitoring, optimisation, diagnosis, and prognostic and health management.By enabling the transmission of data between the physical and virtual world, digital twins have the potential to provide real-time information on equipment and production operations as well as potential actions, increasing production predictability and enabling process innovations leading to process and performance improvements (Aheleroff et al. 2021;Fuller et al. 2020).In addition, digital twins can be utilised in production optimisation through process simulation to support virtual production and productivity (He and Bai 2021;Zheng et al. 2018).By acting as a real-time monitoring and forecasting tool, digital twin technology can be utilised in the development phase of buildings, structures, and smart cities, as well as in their maintenance (Fuller et al. 2020).Digital twins' ability to synchronise the real and digital worlds also enables novel types of business model innovation, changing existing ways of operating.These innovations can be used to create new types of earning models-for example, to offer smart solutions in the construction, transportation, and energy sectors (Rasheed, San, and Kvamsdal 2020).

Summary
It can be argued that despite the promising possibilities that digital twins offer organisations, the phenomenon from the perspective of innovation has been underexplored.Previous studies have focused on how digital twins can support the optimisation of an organisation's internal operations and processes by streamlining existing activities through data collection and visibility.Although the use of digital twins is likely to contribute to the development of innovation (e.g.Cheng et al. 2020;Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020;Zheng et al. 2018), and an increasing number of organisations are taking advantage of various forms of digital twins as part of their operations, understanding of the implications of their use is relatively limited (e.g.Aheleroff et al. 2021;Fuller et al. 2020;He and Bai 2021).The focus on streamlining and optimising internal operations diverts attention from innovation, in the form of new business models, services, and products, as an outcome.Thus, a systematic understanding of the implications of the use of digital twins, covering scope, characteristics, and impact and based on empirical evidence, is necessary.

Research approach
Digital transformation and emerging technologies create new business opportunities that differ from traditional requirements.We studied digital twins in the industrial environment to answer the following question: What implications do digital twins have for innovation?The research was conducted using a qualitative case study approach (Eisenhardt 1989).This is an appropriate research methodology when there are many variables in the study and the study consists of a specific, complex phenomenon in a real-world context (Yin 2014).A case study approach allows an indepth and multi-faceted understanding of the researched phenomenon in its natural context (Crowe et al. 2011).

Case selection and data collection
Following Stake (1995), the study used a collective case study approach.A multiple (Yin 2003) or collective case study (Stake 1995) involves consideration of more than one case study in order to allow researchers to explore differences within and between cases, providing a broad understanding.In addition, as using multiple case studies constitutes an appropriate research methodology when the same phenomenon is thought to occur in multiple situations (Yin 1981).This research approach helped us identify the similarities and differences in how companies seek to leverage digital twins in their innovation activities.The research utilised multiple cases involving smalland medium-sized companies (SMEs) and large companies.SMEs are defined as companies with less than 250 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or a balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.In order to achieve higher external validity, multiple cases were used (Voss, Tsikriktsis, and Frohlich 2002) with the goal of identifying repeat findings in the different cases (Yin 2003).
Case selection is an important part of a successful case study (Eisenhardt 1989).Cases were carefully selected to allow comparison and replication (Yin 2003) using the following criteria: (1) the company must be taking concrete initiatives to develop and/or implement digital twins, (2) the company must allow access to relevant information concerning their use of digital twins and innovation processes, and (3) the interviewee(s) should be aware of their company's use of digital twins and the relevant organisational areas and processes.A total of six companies and 14 interviewees participated in the study (Table 1).Both SMEs and large companies were selected to provide a comprehensive picture of the development and use of digital twins, particularly in relation to innovation.
Furthermore, this research is based on the analysis of open-ended interviews conducted among digital twin solution providers and utilisers.The case companies are actively developing or using digital twin solutions and were therefore selected as cases for this study.To gain a complete view of the mechanisms of digital twins in innovation processes, representatives from different units, hierarchical levels, and job descriptions were interviewed.Because the utilisation of digital twins in innovation development is evolving, preliminary questions were constructed.Thus, the interview execution permitted unofficial discussions and allowed researchers to ask support questions.In particular, the interviews focused on how the company currently utilises digital twins to support its operation and how digital twins and their multiple characteristics could support companies in the future.These provided important insights into how digital twins can be leveraged to support innovation and development processes, enabling new types of products, services, processes, and business model innovations.
The interviews were conducted in 2020.They were carried out with the entire research team, each interview lasting approximately between 60 and 80 min.The interview questions focused on predefined dimensions taken from a review of the literature (Scope, Table 2).Building interview questions based on these dimensions helped ensure the reliability of the data (Yin 2003).Given that the topic of digital twins is evolving, the interview protocol allowed for informal discussions and supporting questions from the researchers.The flexibility of the data collection made it possible to obtain a detailed description of each individual case (Crowe et al. 2011).The interviews were recorded and transcribed to facilitate the analysis phase.

Data analysis
The study can be classified as a theory-generating case study in which several cases were exploited and in which researchers looked for both similarities and differences between cases in pursuit of theoretical generalisations (Ketokivi and Choi 2014).Existent theoretical considerations guided the predefined dimensions of the interviews (Scope, Table 2), but empirical analysis informed and shaped the findings (Ketokivi and Choi 2014).The collected data were coded with the help of the predefined dimensions and were analyzed using within-case and cross-case analyses (Eisenhardt 1989).The unit of analysis was companies, specifically companies' experiences with the use of digital twins and their potential for innovation.The within-case analysis provided more detailed information on how each company uses or develops digital twins and identified the related innovation mechanisms.Cross-case analyses were conducted between companies to identify repetitive patterns and to support the creation of the framework of the results (Table 2).The analyses were performed by a single researcher.After that, there was an open discussion between the four researchers about the results of the cases.Finally, the results were analyzed during the discussion, and theory-generating proposals were formed (Figure 1).

Findings
In examining the impact of digital twins on innovation, we focused on the different scopes of digital twin utilisation.In analyzing these scopes, the implications of digital twins were analyzed in terms of their impact, characteristics, and two roles of innovation: as a process and as an outcome.This section describes the main results and the propositions (P) derived from them.Table 2 provides a summary of the results.
The findings show the impacts of digital twins based on their characteristics in different areas of business, verifying the diverse possibilities of digital twins.
The same digital twin can be used throughout the product life cycle as a design aid, for validation and testing, and in part, also for production, training, marketing, maintenance, and service.(The chief technology officer, Company D) The results of this study show the ways that digital twins contribute to innovation processes (impacts) and how digital twins are used in innovation processes (scope).For example, digital twin exploration characteristics could be applied in the product design and development areas, enabling experiments, innovations, and new opportunities through digital twins' simulation capabilities.
It allows you to go through different operating situations without breaking anything.Different situations can be simulated, and customers also want to do different tests on operating situations that would be tricky on the right machine.(The customer project manager/production manager, Company D) P1: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates product development, as it allows designing and testing products virtually, reducing errors and surprises, increasing collaboration, saving time, and enhancing information sharing for all parties.
On the other hand, digital twins offer opportunities for more efficient production processes because they can be used to implement real-time production monitoring and control, enhancing the guidance of the operations.
With the help of the digital twin, you have access to real-time production information, so it is very easy to develop the production and modify processes so that the entire production capacity can be utilized.… the benefit of real-time monitoring is that everyone in the organization has the same knowledge of what enables development and of data-based decisions to be made.(The chief operating officer, Company F) P2: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates production processes, as it enhances the quality of decision-making and information transparency for workers and management.
According to the study, digital twins serve as an excellent communication tool.Possessing interaction characteristics, digital twins enable information sharing and communication between different parties both within and outside the company.
The digital twin is a great channel of communication with partners and customers.It kind of allows us to speak the same language when we are wondering at the digital twin together.It also allows you to try things out, look at the machine in action, see the work process, and much more.So, it is a good channel for dialogue with other parties.… And then within the company, it is, of course, a great communication channel in the sense that usually, the company has its own department which is responsible for electrical components, its own department which is responsible for hydraulics, for mechanics, and for the control system.And then all these departments now have a conversation around the digital twin.When changes are made, their effects on department-specific issues are immediately seen, and it helps to go through a wide range of problems in different situations.(The customer project manager/production manager, Company D) P3: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates cooperation, as it increases the availability of information and improves information sharing.
The digital twin model has various implications for sales and marketing processes, enhancing their execution.At the sales stage, the customer can see and try out the features of the products, influencing the customer's purchasing decision and speeding it up.
If we have a good digital twin at the sales stage, then with the customer we can customize and optimize the operation of the real product as desired.(The product development director, Company B) With digital twin of the products, our customers have been able to streamline the early stages of the sales process.For example, two to four weeks of work can be condensed to 15 min, the solution can be presented in a much clearer form to the end customer, and the salesperson does not have to be an expert with 10 years of experience.(The chief operating officer, Company F) P4: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates sales and marketing, as it promotes the making of offers in a timely manner and increases the flow of information to customers.
Also, the study showed that digital twins have various implications for the companies' maintenance services.By optimising the maintenance of the products and spare parts, and using preventive maintenance, companies saw that savings in both money and time could be achieved.In addition, the companies found that digital twins will create new types of after-sales maintenance services in the future, such as education and remote support services.
With digital twins, we can get help with the timeliness and planning of maintenance, so that it is not necessary to stop a piece of equipment or the whole factory when a place breaks down unexpectedly, but to monitor the whole chain so accurately and in good time that it is not known when any part will break down and then plan maintenance and repairs.(The business director, Company F) P5: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates product maintenance and preventative maintenance, as it saves money and time by optimising maintenance and enables the application of new types of maintenance services, such as training and remote support.
Digital twins offer completely new opportunities for business discovery and development.By learning more about customer needs and integrating information silos, new service opportunities can be found.
I want to emphasize that, in a way, the integration of these silos is one of the key issues.Because, firstly, it would allow a lot of new business at no extra cost if the world of information between these silos were kind of connected.(The CEO, Company A) One of the new possibilities was the utilisation of the digital twin for learning purposes, which was already taken advantage of by Company E.
The more technology evolves, the easier it is for it to be used for both internal and external learning purposes.For example, when we are supplied with an entire factory and we have a good digital twin from it, then we can utilize the digital twin as a tool to help the customer learn how to operate the factory or the complex production lines.(The product development manager, Company C) Well, we utilize digital twins in driver training.We have two simulator chairs where drivers can try our systems and how they work in the virtual world.(The research team leader, Company E) P6: Making greater use of a digital twin facilitates finding new business, as it increases knowledge of the customer and their needs.
The findings demonstrate how businesses are moving from technology-centric to value-centric innovation processes to create value with digital twins.This was reflected in the fact that companies-both providers and users-were actively looking for new ways to leverage the digital twins in their business, looking for new business opportunities and seeking answers to various challenges.The results showed how companies were seeking new opportunities and developing their operations with digital twins (innovation as a process); some of the companies' innovation activities were conducted as firm-only processes, while others as network-level processes.Overall, the development of networking was emphasised, as the digital twin will enable cooperation between different parties.
In my opinion, it would be good to be an open platform that has these digital twins, and it would also not hinder, that it would reach out to external developers, that external parties would have more information and skills, that innovations would probably increase, and that it would then help the whole ecosystem to develop.(The development manager, Company C) P7: The characteristics of a digital twin are dependent on the understanding of innovation either as a process or as an outcome.
The results also demonstrate the importance of the distinct characteristics of digital twins.Distinct characteristics impact the extent to which digital twins can be utilised to achieve different benefitsfor example, enhancing decision-making, improving information sharing and collaboration, optimising processes, and boosting sales.
P8: The characteristics of a digital twin determine its implications.

Discussion
This study enhances the understanding of how digital twins are integrated into a firm's innovation.The research question is as follows: What implications do digital twins bring to innovation?The study offers an interesting contribution to the digital twin literature: we consider digital twins in the context of innovation and investigate the implications of digital twins in terms of different scopes of operation.
The results of the study show that companies are more actively searching for possibilities to support innovation through the utilisation of digital twins.The findings of the study further indicate that organisations are able to recognise the scope where the utilisation of digital twins can best support innovation and produce positive results.The possible and searched impacts of the utilisation of digital twins in innovation are also recognised both from the service provider's and utiliser's perspectives.However, these recognised advantages seem to rely on boosting existing business elements and optimising processes.It is still uncommon to add digital twin support to a product during its early design phase, even though their supporting elements as a part of innovation are understood.
Thus, the study reveals three distinct issues that describe the current state of digital twins' utilisation in innovation activities.First, the efforts of companies toward value-centric innovation through digital twin solutions were recognised (cf.Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020).The technology and product-oriented innovations around digital twins are considered just one aspect of innovation, and the focus is shifting rapidly toward the entire value chain to strive for new business opportunities for the entire network.This is in line with prior research suggesting that the use of digital twins provides novel innovation and value creation opportunities for industrial companies (Chirumalla 2021; Blichfeldt and Faullant 2021).Thus, this study proposes that the characteristics of digital twins are dependent on the understanding of innovation as either a process or an outcome.
Second, the findings indicate that innovations related to digital twins allow for a completely new kind of cooperation, for example, in the form of open platforms.This means simultaneous and mutual creation of all types of innovations around digital twins, where digital twins are considered as open platforms that in turn allow simultaneous upgrading of technologies, communication, and data sharing among partners.This study shows that these efforts require various characteristics of digital twins, such as exploration, experimentation, optimisation, interaction, discovery, and guidance.The result is in line with Cheng et al. (2020), who concluded that digital twins enable collaboration that is more than just the integration and sharing of data between upstream and downstream companies.As the rise in the use of digital twins includes transformations in technology and production (Cimino, Negri, and Fumagalli 2019;Liu et al. 2019;Tao et al. 2019), the organisational implications may also vary (Lim, Zheng, and Chen 2020;Parmar, Leiponen, and Thomas 2020).Thus, this study proposes that the characteristics of digital twins determine the implications of their use.
Third, the results support prior research concluding that digital twins have various applications in multiple scopes (Fuller et al. 2020;Qi et al. 2021;Rasheed, San, and Kvamsdal 2020).Some studies (e.g.Rasheed, San, and Kvamsdal 2020) have highlighted digital twins' ability to combine the real and digital worlds in a way that enables novel types of business model innovation, but this possibility has not been fully exploited in the studied companies.Although the companies were actively striving for new ways to leverage digital twins in their businesses, looking for new business opportunities and seeking answers to various challenges, the focus was still developing existing operations.This development perspective can prevent companies from understanding the potential of twin-based innovations to create novel earning models.Thus, we propose that making greater use of a digital twin facilitates product development and design, sales and marketing, maintenance services, cooperation with the customer and within the company, finding new business, and production processes.However, the topic requires further research, because the findings may indicate a need for stand-alone development activities in the companies, focusing only on novel business model innovations around digital twins.
Finally, based on the findings, the study suggests a framework (Figure 1) for the innovation implications of the use of digital twins.The framework provides a foundation for researchers exploring the use of digital twins in innovation.The framework emphasises the need to understand the developmental scope before the type of digital twin innovation can be understood and defined.The type of innovation influences the desired characteristics of the digital twin.Demonstrating the characteristics of digital twins will also help in understanding the type of innovation required and indicate the related implications.In this way, the framework can also promote the exploitation of digital twins as an innovation process that enables collaboration throughout the value chain of product development, manufacturing, operation, and maintenance (cf.Cheng et al. 2020).

Conclusion
This study investigates the implications that digital twins have for innovation, presenting empirical evidence supporting a framework for the implications of digital twins.Thus, our study contributes to the existing literature by providing a systematic understanding of the implications of digital twins.
From a theoretical perspective, this study uniquely contributes to the field of innovation and technology management by investigating digital twins with respect to innovation.Our results emphasise the importance of first defining the scope of operation that the digital innovation targets.This typifies the nature of the innovation to be developed.Our findings also suggest that the use of digital twins requires not only an understanding of the nature of innovation but also knowledge of the characteristics of digital twin development.The characteristics of digital twins determine their implications.The developed framework builds on the recognised classification of innovation and specific characteristics of digital twins, which the more technically oriented digital twin studies tend to overlook.Second, the research is the first to systematically study the actual use cases of digital twins and to provide implications for further theoretical and empirical studies on innovation.The study shows that making greater use of digital twins has implications for various scopes of operation, including product development and design, sales and marketing, maintenance services, cooperation, finding new business, and production processes.This framework can be used in future studies investigating the implications of the use of digital twins.
From a practical point of view, the findings of this study provide interesting implications for different practitioners interested in the utilisation of digital twins.Currently, there is growing interest by different innovation management professionals in the use of digital twins, and by studying their actual use, the study provides examples to practitioners concerning how digital twins can be utilised in different contexts.As such, the study findings provide possibilities for the adoption of digital twins to practitioners to support their innovation processes.The framework can be used as a design tool to facilitate the implementation of digital twins.In summary, using the results of this study, managers can enhance their companies' digital transformation by acknowledging the multiple uses of digital twins.
While the results of this study reveal that both digital twin service providers and utilisers can recognise the scopes and impacts of the utilisation of digital twins in innovation processes, an understanding of their actual effectiveness is still rare.As such, further studies may be needed to explore the effectiveness of digital twins in the innovation processes in organisations.It may be valuable and important to understand more about the characteristics of a digital twin that generate value in innovation processes.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Juhani Ukko (D.Sc.Tech.) is a Professor at LUT University, School of Engineering Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management.He is also an adjunct professor at Tampere University.His current research focuses on performance measurement, operations management, digital transformation, digital services and corporate sustainability performance.In recent years, he has managed and participated in research projects related to digital transformation in companies and society.His work has been published in journals such as Information Systems Frontiers, Computers in Industry, International Journal of Operations and Production Management and International Journal of Production Economics.

Notes on contributors
Mira Holopainen (M.Sc.Tech.) is a Project Researcher and Doctoral Student in the School of Engineering Science at LUT University, Finland.Her research is related to performance measurement and management as well as digital transformation of industrial companies.Minna Saunila (D.Sc.Tech.) is an Associate Professor at LUT University, School of Engineering Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management.She received a D.Sc.degree from LUT in 2014 in the field of Industrial Management.Her research covers topics related to performance management, innovation, service operations, as well as sustainable value creation.Recently, her research projects have been related to digitisation of services and production.She has previously published in Technovation, Computers in Industry, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, and Technology Analysis and Strategic Management among others.Since 2018 she is also a docent of the University of Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics.Tero Rantala (D.Sc.Tech.) is a Postdoctoral Researcher at LUT University, School of Engineering Science.His current research focuses on performance management and measurement of university-industry collaborations.In addition, his current research interests involve different areas of performance management in digital business environments and sustainable business contexts.He has previously published in journals such as European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, Information Technology & People, and Education and Work.

Table 1 .
Informants of the interviews.

Table 2 .
The implications of digital twins in different scopes.