FEATURE Automated Warehousing
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How digital twins are transforming modern warehouses
Within warehousing and logistics, digital twin technology is bringing more benefits. By Ronald Binkofski, VP and GM of Honeywell’s warehouse automation business for Europe
A
ccording to Fortune Business Insights, the global Industry 4.0 market is predicted to be valued at $337bn by 2028,
growing at a compound annual rate of 16.4%. Many technologies are contributing to this incredible growth, but a standout among them is digital twin solutions, used to improve warehouse automation operations for increased effi ciency and reduced downtime. Digital twins deliver virtual representations of a physical environment, proving extremely helpful in the warehouse industry.
Benefits to operations Warehouse operations are rapidly growing in complexity. Inventory is diverse, logistics solutions are strained and technology more complex. As new automation systems come to market, managers must analyse them to determine which could bring the greatest benefi t to their operations. Smart companies are now building digital twins to help them solve operational complexities and identify areas for potential performance improvement. With digital twins, companies can try out new fl oor plans and test new workfl ows virtually. They can introduce new variables and confi guration parameters to the virtual model and assess the potential impact. Almost every aspect of operations can be monitored and tweaked, including SKU mix, ordering and shipping and demand spikes. Automation eff orts can be tested and their potential impact reviewed. Digital twins are also valuable in the design of new automation systems. For a traditional automation system, thousands of hours are invested in confi guring and
38 July/August 2022 | Automation
adjusting the software that runs the system to meet specifi c customer requirements. With a digital twin of the physical system, it is possible to skip all the coding of these customer specifi cs. It usually takes up to a year to create and install a system; but in that time, machine learning can run its experiments and the physical system can increase optimisation on the day it goes live.
Digital twins can also help businesses adapt to changing requirements or other disruptions. A warehouse or distribution centre empowered with digital twin technology can run hundreds of possible scenarios in minimal time. This provides critical insights of average performance over time and identifi es areas where the system’s ability can be bolstered to handle short- and long-term challenges. It also enables much more timely decisions about when to service, upgrade or replace the system.
Next-generation operations The digitisation of robotic systems continues to enable next-generation automation within the warehouse space.
The synthetic models that feed intelligence to the algorithm train the internal dataset to replicate into a digital twin, augmenting the processes to give robotic systems optimal paths for project completion. Previously, such processes would have taken months to implement in the warehouse; yet, digital twin data reduces this to mere weeks. Increased investment and R&D in machine learning will continue to streamline operations for better effi ciency and reduced downtime. There is now an intense focus on digital transformation initiatives and industrial IoT, with digital twins playing a vital part. They’re greatly improving performance and ROI by enabling far more effi cient, rapid and cost-eff ective analysis and decision making. In an increasingly complex and competitive logistics landscape, digital twins are proving invaluable to modern warehouse operations.
CONTACT:
Honeywell
www.honeywell.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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