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This work presents a digital-twin-based framework focused on orchestrating human-centered processes toward Industry 5.0. By including workers and their digital replicas in the loop of the digital twin, the proposed framework extends the traditional model of the factory's digital twin, which instead does not adequately consider the human component. The overall goal of the authors is to provide a reference architecture to manufacturing companies for a digital-twin-based platform that promotes harmonization and orchestration between humans and (physical and virtual) machines through the monitoring, simulation, and optimization of their interactions. In addition, the platform enhances the interactions of the stakeholders with the digital twin, considering that the latter cannot always be fully autonomous, and it can require human intervention. The paper also presents an implemented scenario adhering to the proposed framework's specifications, which is also validated with a real case study set in a factory plant that produces wooden furniture, thus demonstrating the validity of the overall proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital twin (DT) is the virtual clone of a factory representing its static and dynamic aspects (e.g., processes, systems, products, etc.) in detail. Among the significant challenges that manufacturing company has to face to implement the DT, one of the most demanding is applying an appropriate software infrastructure, which would enable synchronization of the physical factory with its DT. In this case, it was possible to exploit wide range of capabilities of DT in its full potential. In particular, the DT was used in different conditions to enable various operations within the shop floor, to simulate and assess the factory's performance. To support companies in addressing this challenge, this paper presents a potential solution, based on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) middleware, that implements a fully dual-way synchronization between the real and virtual worlds. A case study was carried out to investigate the possibilities to implement the solution. To demonstrate correctness and validity of the approach, tests were carried out in the laboratories of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Robotics Demo Centre and ProtoLab of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]