Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Transforming manufacturing quality management with cognitive twins: a data-driven, predictive approach to real-time optimization of quality.

Ullah, Asif; Younas, Muhammad; Saharudin, Mohd Shahneel

Authors

Asif Ullah



Abstract

In the ever-changing world of modern manufacturing, maintaining product quality is of great importance, yet extremely difficult due to complexities and the dynamic production paradigm. Currently, quality is rather reactively measured through periodic inspections and manual assessments. Traditional quality management systems (QMS), through these reactive measures, are often inefficient because of their higher operational cost and delayed defect detection and mitigation. The paper introduces a novel cognitive twin (CT) framework, which is the next evolved version of digital twin (DT). It is designed to advance the current quality management in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) through real-time, data-driven, and predictive optimization. This proposed framework uses four data types, namely feedstock quality (Qf), machine degradation (Qm), product processing quality (Qp), and quality inspection (Qi). By utilizing the power of machine learning algorithms, the cognitive twin constantly monitors and then analyzes real-time data. The cognitive twin optimizes the above quality components. This enables a very proactive decision making through an augmented reality (AR) interface by providing real-time visual insights and alerts to the operators. Thorough experimentation was conducted on the aforementioned FMS. Through the experiments, it was revealed that the proposed cognitive twin outperforms conventional QMSs by a great margin. The cognitive twin achieved a 2% improvement in the total quality scores. A 60% decrease in defects per unit (DPU) is observed as well as a sharp 40% decrease in scrap rate. Furthermore, the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) increased to 93–96%. The overall equipment efficiency increased by 11.8%, on average, from 82% to 93%, and the scrap rate decreased by 33.3% from 60% to 40%. The excellent results showcase the effectiveness of cognitive twin quality management via minimum wastage, continuous quality improvement, and enhancement in operational efficiency in the paradigm of smart manufacturing. This research study contributes to the field of industry 4.0 by providing a comprehensive, scalable, and adaptive quality management solution, thus leading the way for further advancements in intelligent manufacturing systems.

Citation

ULLAH, A., YOUNAS, M. and SAHARUDIN, M.S. 2025. Transforming manufacturing quality management with cognitive twins: a data-driven, predictive approach to real-time optimization of quality. Journal of manufacturing and materials processing [online], 9(3), article number 79. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp9030079

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 22, 2025
Online Publication Date Feb 28, 2025
Publication Date Mar 31, 2025
Deposit Date Mar 10, 2025
Publicly Available Date Mar 10, 2025
Journal Journal of manufacturing and materials processing
Electronic ISSN 2504-4494
Publisher MDPI
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 9
Issue 3
Article Number 79
DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp9030079
Keywords Cognitive twin; Quality management; Flexible manufacturing system (FMS); Industry 4.0; predictive analytics; Augmented reality (AR); Real-time optimization
Public URL https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2742485

Files




You might also like



Downloadable Citations