Digital Twins for Smarter Capacity Planning

Guessing how much your warehouse, factory, or power grid can tolerate until it falls apart is never an easy task. Digital Twin Technology is designed specifically for this reason. You now have a virtual copy of your facility that allows you to view where the stress points are in order to prevent future issues related to strain on equipment.

So what’s a digital twin, really?

Think of it as a living, evolving model of a real-life system. Whether you’re operating a warehouse, manufacturing line, or computer data center, you have a digital twin of it based on actual data collected from all the sensors and machines. This isn’t a static plan that sits in a file drawer somewhere, but a system that evolves in much the same way that your actual system does.

Why capacity planning needs this

Traditional capacity planning tends to involve spreadsheets, historical data, and a lot of guessing. But the issue is that business conditions evolve quickly — demand increases, machinery becomes outdated, and personnel changes. And the digital twin will allow you to avoid making guesses and conduct simulations right away.

Wondering how adding a second shift would affect operations? Experiment with it in the digital twin. Wondering whether your warehouse design can handle a 25% increase in inventory? Test it out beforehand without changing anything in real life. That is how digital tools like this justify their existence — they help you prove a concept before implementing it.

Catching bottlenecks before they cost you

One of the most significant advantages that will be realized in this case includes early detection of any problems. This is because the digital twin will simulate the real-world restrictions such as physical limits of the machines involved, energy loads, number of people that can work, and available storage among others. Therefore, any bottlenecks that may develop will be detected through the simulation before being detected physically.

Comparing options without the risk

For example, imagine that you need to choose between extending the size of your plant, optimizing the current design of your plant, and automating it. A digital twin enables you to evaluate each option simultaneously without having to spend any money, while traditionally you had to conduct an expensive pilot project, or simply try different solutions in practice and see which one works.

Where this is showing up

The idea of using digital twins for capacity planning isn’t limited to a single sector only. Warehouses use digital twin technology to estimate the maximum throughput during peak seasons. Electricity generation companies use digital twins to estimate load on the electricity network in various scenarios. Construction companies use digital twins to make plans for resource allocation at different construction sites. Even hospitals are now using this technology for estimating the number of patients.

The bigger shift

What is really taking place is a transition from static planning to ongoing, evidence-based decision-making. With more companies implementing digital twin technologies, the expectations are changed accordingly. People start to expect that they will be able to test something prior to its creation rather than create and then pray that everything works just right.

The bottom line

There has always been an element of risk associated with capacity planning. Digital twins don’t reduce risks entirely but drastically lower their levels since they provide a testing environment for concepts without actually going out into the real world. With more industries embracing digital solutions based on this technology, the companies that embrace it will be basing capacity decisions on facts and not assumptions.