Twins Link Physical to Digital

Written By Vika Kolotov

Digital Twins have provided solutions to combat a variety of issues in industry.

The futuristic concept of three-dimensional digital asset representation has become commonplace in companies worldwide. Digital twins may utilize real world data in order to generate simulations that can predict how a product or process will perform. These renderings consist of objects, including devices, buildings, or even cities. Digital twins have a multitude of benefits that exist to incorporate visibility, prediction, and operational enhancement through virtual representation. 

Digital twins have been present in industry since 2002. Paired with new technological advancements in IoT, they have been developed into strategic visibility tools within companies worldwide. The implementation of IoT has allowed companies to pair the physical world with the digital in a way that outlines visibility through data integration. Sensors on the object collect data and send it back to the digital twin using IoT, meaning the twins can be consistently updated to prevent technology failures and test processes. The employment of this technology allows companies to respond rapidly to problems within systems that have a digital format in place. For example, major players in industry and innovation like Tesla have a digital twin with IoT connection of each vehicle sold, allowing for low-input maintenance prediction and software updates. IoT is utilized to gather data on the object and send it back to the digitized model in order to gain insight on factors including data, processes, and lifecycle. 

In warehouses specifically, digital twins can be utilized to produce better logistical outcomes. The visibility provided by data integration and digital twin technologies allow operational leaders to make need-based changes without halting production. By projecting the structure and routes within the warehouse, digital twins create a virtual platform that can test varying layouts, without physically changing the surrounding environment. A digital warehouse design effectively allows businesses to optimize their storage, route accessibility, and adaptation to new automation. This leads to effective results in a manner that is less time consuming and costly, improving efficiency by an estimated 20 to 25 percent.

As technology progresses, successful businesses will continue to adapt and grow their utilization of data integration and visualization. Globally, the digital twin market size was valued at $3.1 billion in 2020, and is predicted to reach $48.2 billion by 2026. Digital twins are likely to play a major role in efficiency through visibility in a variety of industries, and will continue to innovate and optimize the warehouse setting.

Vika Kolotov
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