Hybrid digital modelling of large manufacturing systems to support continuous evolution

Automation and technological innovations pushed manufacturing companies to integrated plant configurations, where sub-systems are highly intertwined, though easily reconfigurable thanks to modularization. Frequent reconfigurations change the way sub-systems interact amongst each other more often than in the past. However, in large manufacturing systems digital sub-system models may be still ran independently, limiting their support in decision-making. This work proposes a methodology for the hybrid digital modelling of large manufacturing systems, where hybrid stands for multi-technique modelling, to achieve: (i) reduction of modelling complexity, (ii) portability, (iii) optimal modelling choice, (iv) hybrid modelling integration. An industrial case study in the electrical equipment sector shows the validity of the proposed approach.