Digital twins in Lean strategic facility management in the UK healthcare sector: A proposed framework to enabling Lean strategic facility management in healthcare operations in the UK

Mbabu, Alex

Abstract

The healthcare sector in the United Kingdom (UK) faces significant challenges in managing its vast estate efficiently and effectively. With rising costs, a substantial maintenance backlog, and increasing patient expectations, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to streamline operations, reduce waste, and improve patient care. Despite the potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Lean management in facility management, their integration with emerging digital twin technology for strategic facility management in healthcare remains underexplored. This research aimed at addressing this gap by proposing a digital twin framework to enable Lean strategic facility management in UK healthcare operations.

The research objectives were to: 1) Establish the current knowledge in BIM for facility management, digital twins, strategic facility management, and Lean; 2) Determine the development of BIM to digital twins for strategic healthcare facility management; 3) Establish the value of digital twins in strategic healthcare facility management in the UK; 4) Establish performance measurement techniques for digital twin to support Lean strategic facility management; and 5) Propose and evaluate a digital twin framework to enable Lean strategic facility management in healthcare operations.

The research employed a design science research (DSR) strategy, following a five-stage process. Stage 1 involves problem identification through an extensive literature review and preliminary survey. Stage 2 focuses on developing an initial conceptual model and framework. Stage 3 conducts an exploratory study with semi-structured interviews to co-create an evolved model and implementation framework. Stage 4 evaluates the developed artefacts through an expert panel. Finally, Stage 5 presented the theoretical contributions, including the final digital twin conceptual model and conceptual framework, a digital twin supporting implementation framework and a digital twin maturity process for healthcare estates.

The research makes significant contributions across academic, methodological, and practical domains. Academically, it conceptualises how digital twins enable Lean and strategic facility management, proposing a novel integrated socio-technical framework and a healthcare-specific digital twin maturity model. Methodologically, it demonstrates the application of design science research for solving real-world problems in the healthcare-built environment. Practically, it provides an implementation framework and roadmap for adopting digital twins to achieve Lean strategic facility management and improve operational efficiency, patient care, and strategic alignment of facilities with organisational goals in the UK healthcare sector.

The research limitations, comprise the lack of long-term empirical validation and the UK-centric focus, and recommends future work, including longitudinal case studies, cross-national comparisons, in-depth investigations into organisational change, cost-benefit analysis, and data privacy and security considerations. This research makes a significant contribution to advancing the application of digital twins for Lean strategic facility management in the complex and critical context of UK healthcare operations.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jan 5, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2025
• Keywords: Digital twin, Lean management, Healthcare facilities, Strategic facility management, Building Information Modelling
• Citations for Published Sections: Mbabu, A. (2025). Digital twins in Lean strategic facility management in the UK healthcare sector: A proposed framework to enabling Lean strategic facility management in healthcare operations in the UK. (PhD Thesis). The University of Salford.
• Award Date: Jan 23, 2025