Digital assets in zero-defect manufacturing: literature review and proposed framework

Market demand for customised, quality-focused products is driving the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, placing digital asset management at the forefront of Industry 4.0. Digital assets, virtual representations of physical assets, are essential for successfully implementing Industry 4.0 strategies. Understanding the lifecycle of these assets, from design to disposal, is crucial for automating manufacturing processes and minimising product defects. Digital assets complemented by innovative technologies have therefore become increasingly important in zero-defect manufacturing (ZDM) practices, due to their ability to leverage data to improve product quality. However, existing literature takes a fragmented approach, hindering the understanding and integration of digital assets into ZDM frameworks. To address this, this study explores three interrelated dimensions: digital assets, ZDM and the asset lifecycle. A systematic review of 68 recent academic articles was conducted to highlight prevailing trends and synthesise findings in these critical areas. The result is a coherent, practical, integrative framework that provides practitioners and academics with guidance and research directions to help them achieve standardised adoption of digital assets within Industry 4.0. The contribution is operationalised through a Digital-Asset-Driven ZDM (DA-ZDM) reference architecture, emphasising a closed-loop quality pipeline enabled by MLOps to sustain prediction-prevention and detection-repair cycles in real time.