Several software architectures for digital twins have been proposed, specifying their structure and key components, such as the ISO 23247 standard for manufacturing. However, systematic methodologies for developing digital twins in the manufacturing domain remain lacking. Existing research does not adequately address methodological aspects, such as composing essential digital twin components, defining their interfaces, and systematically analyzing relevant data. This gap presents a challenge for the structured development of digital twins. In this work, we introduce a systematic approach to identify key requirements for manufacturing digital twins and propose a model-driven method for their creation. Our approach enables the generation of executable digital twins based on a formalized specification. We demonstrate its applicability through multiple industrial manufacturing demonstrators, highlighting its suitability in practice. The proposed method is adaptable regarding the purpose of the digital twins to be developed and supports a largely automated process.