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ses in a dynamic multiple-criteria environment and support
from “what-if” analysis. Some information may be found in
Senna (2020).
The results of these study processes led to very impor-
tant managerial decisions, and the transformation or adapta-
tion of IKEA factories in several countries. Then, a new ambi-
tion was put forward:
● How to achieve a planning for “green sustainability” in
IKEA?

The response to the challenge was also manifold. To
begin with, a portfolio of energy solutions was organized, to
identify different combinations of investment in energy, inclu-
ding local PV generation and local storage. As a necessary
consequence, the economic feasibility of the adoption of bat-
teries had to be assessed.
The logical evolution was towards a simultaneous plan-
ning of Operations and Energy. How was this assessed and
achieved? By integrating energy use and resource flexibility
and layout design in a single, unified digital twin:
●Flexibility in the consumption of energy: its assess-
ment required building a model of the manufacturing process
from the point of view of the energy use.
●Layout design: its assessment led to an optimization
of the usage of machines, increasing efficiency and reducing
operational costs.

The success of such integrated digital twin created the
opportunity for new concepts. The most important and that de-
serve highlighting are:
● An interpretation of stock as virtual energy storage.
● A dynamic adjustment of the production rhythm and
options as a function of solar power availability.

Both are powerful concepts. To make them operational,
the pervasive sensing in the factory was complemented with

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