Briefing: Process digital twin: lessons learned from a construction case study

This briefing article reflects on an effort to create a digital twin of the work processes of a construction company. The digital twin was to be used by the business to take advantage of digital techniques such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics in optimising their activities. However, the effort to create the required process maps took longer than expected. In capturing the lessons learned, a system dynamics approach was used to reveal the structural and behavioural issues that prevented the timely completion of the task. The issues identified include problems with planning, process documentation, process standardisation, leadership and stakeholder engagement. From analysis of the results, good practices are recommended to ensure timely delivery of similar tasks in the future.