The ongoing trend of digitalization is reshaping markets and businesses, leading to increased volatility in demand and resource availability. This shift necessitates more flexible and efficient decision-making processes in engineering and operations than currently exist. Simulation technology emerges as a crucial tool to enhance decision-making, allowing for earlier and lower-risk responses to engineering and operational questions. It plays a vital role in a successful digitalization strategy by enabling the virtual representation of production plants and products within a digitalized supply chain. This thesis explores the role of simulation in the process industries through a global online survey of over 200 participants and numerous expert interviews, providing valuable insights into the current and future applications of simulation. The findings lead to the identification of requirements and action areas, forming the basis for a technology roadmap that outlines a potential future direction. Additionally, the research investigates the integration of simulation into the life-cycle of process plants through a technical prototype, demonstrating that a more integrated use of simulation is feasible with existing tools. This indicates a promising evolution toward a more cohesive application of simulation throughout the life-cycle of process plants.
