{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T21:10:44Z","timestamp":1786741844346,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,12]],"date-time":"2026-04-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775952000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project of China","award":["25XJCZH017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25XJCZH017"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation established by the Shaanxi Science and Technology Department of China","award":["2025JC-YBQN-1025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025JC-YBQN-1025"]}]},{"name":"Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology Philosophy and Social Sciences Prosperity Project","award":["2025SY03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025SY03"]}]},{"award":["2025SY03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025SY03"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01zzmf129","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["72404224"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72404224"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["72404224"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72404224"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the era of digital economy, manufacturing industry transcends geographical space to build virtual networks. Revealing the complex network characteristics and driver paths of virtual agglomeration is of great significance for accelerating the digitalization of manufacturing. First, this paper explains the formation mechanism and proposes the model of virtual agglomeration; moreover, the paper identifies complex network characteristics. Finally, this paper constructs a driving path framework based on the \u201cTechnology\u2013Organization\u2013Environment\u201d theory, and uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to identify paths. The results show that the technological platform foundation plays a core role in enhancing the level of virtual agglomeration. Differentiated combinations of organizational and environmental conditions also have a positive impact. This study provides theoretical support and practical reference for cities to accelerate virtual agglomeration according to local conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14040426","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T10:19:14Z","timestamp":1776075554000},"page":"426","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Research on the Complex Network Characteristics and Driver Paths of Virtual Agglomeration in Manufacturing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Qing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, No. 58, Yanta Middle Road, Beilin District, Xi\u2019an 710054, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinping","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, No. 58, Yanta Middle Road, Beilin District, Xi\u2019an 710054, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chang","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, No. 58, Yanta Middle Road, Beilin District, Xi\u2019an 710054, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiaqi","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, No. 58, Yanta Middle Road, Beilin District, Xi\u2019an 710054, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2327","DOI":"10.1080\/09537287.2023.2189614","article-title":"Digitizing global supply chains through blockchain","volume":"35","author":"Rauniyar","year":"2023","journal-title":"Prod. 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