Digital Transformation in Industry
Digital Transformation in Industry is a research topic within Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Science Explorer counts 35k research works in it since 1957. 25.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers focuses on the digital transformation of manufacturing systems, with an emphasis on Industry 4.0 technologies such as Digital Twin, Smart Manufacturing, Cyber-Physical Systems, Big Data, and Internet of Things. It explores the integration of these technologies to improve sustainability, lean production, supply chain management, and the development of maturity models for assessing readiness and maturity in manufacturing enterprises.
- Digital Twin
- Smart Manufacturing
- Cyber-Physical Systems
- Big Data
- Sustainability
- Internet of Things
- Cloud Manufacturing
- Lean Production
- Supply Chain Management
- Maturity Models
- Research works
- 35k fractional, since 1957
- In the world top 10%
- 8.8k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 25.4% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +440% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Digital Transformation in Industry research?
By volume, China and India publish the most (2.8k and 1.9k works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 China 2.8k works
- 2 India 1.9k works
- 3 United States 1.6k works
- 4 Germany 1.3k works
- 5 Italy 756 works
- 6 United Kingdom 667 works
- 7 Indonesia 593 works
- 8 Brazil 545 works
- 9 France 442 works
- 10 Türkiye 436 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Digital Transformation in Industry research?
By volume in 2022–2025, RWTH Aachen University publishes the most Digital Transformation in Industry research, followed by Politecnico di Milano and University of Johannesburg.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany 81 works
- 2 Politecnico di MilanoItaly 81 works
- 3 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 76 works
- 4 Symbiosis International UniversityIndia 60 works
- 5 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong 53 works
- 6 Binus UniversityIndonesia 51 works
- 7 Beihang UniversityChina 50 works
- 8 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 47 works
- 9 University of the Basque CountrySpain 47 works
- 10 University of StuttgartGermany 46 works
Who are the leading researchers in Digital Transformation in Industry?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Digital Transformation in Industry include Wil M. P. van der Aalst, MengChu Zhou and Fei–Yue Wang.
- 1 Wil M. P. van der Aalst Netherlands 5.5k citations
- 2 MengChu Zhou United States 4.4k citations
- 3 Fei–Yue Wang China 4.2k citations
- 4 F. Richard Yu Canada 3.6k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Digital Transformation in Industry research done?
The largest centres of Digital Transformation in Industry research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Chennai (India) and Xi'an (China).
Where is the best place to study Digital Transformation in Industry?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Patras, Politecnico di Milano and Cranfield University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of PatrasGreece | 78.8 | 48.7% | 9.9× | 44 | +824.9% |
| 2 | Politecnico di MilanoItaly | 70.8 | 37.8% | 6.3× | 81 | +313.2% |
| 3 | Cranfield UniversityUnited Kingdom | 68.9 | 36.7% | 9.6× | 24 | +775.9% |
| 4 | Silesian University of TechnologyPoland | 68.4 | 26.9% | 9.6× | 43 | +566.7% |
| 5 | Lappeenranta-Lahti University of TechnologyFinland | 68.2 | 51.7% | 12.7× | 23 | — |
| 6 | Luleå University of TechnologySweden | 67.0 | 29.9% | 9.8× | 21 | +572.7% |
| 7 | Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong | 66.9 | 43.7% | 3.3× | 53 | +292.5% |
| 8 | Mälardalen UniversitySweden | 66.0 | 39.3% | 21.2× | 20 | +147.8% |
| 9 | Bucharest University of Economic StudiesRomania | 64.7 | 24.7% | 11.9× | 37 | +236.7% |
| 10 | Technical University of KošiceSlovakia | 64.1 | 20.0% | 13.3× | 36 | +461.7% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Digital Transformation in Industry research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 440% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Digital Transformation in Industry.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.