3D twinDistribution centres, 3PLs and member-store networks
Docks, racks, the pick mezzanine, packing and outbound lanes on one live 3D model of your distribution centre. Every truck, pallet and order sits where it really is, and each problem reaches the person who can fix it.
01Live 3D twin
Step through ten guided views: yard, inbound doors, QC, high-bay racks, the mezzanine, the packing loop, outbound staging, returns and one traced store order. Click any door, aisle or station for its live record.
Operational AIFictional distribution centre with sample data — your twin is drawn from your own site and systems.
02Definition
A DC twin is the floor plan joined to the records each area already produces, so a stuck truck, a full aisle or a stopped station shows up where it happens.
A warehouse digital twin is a live 3D model of a warehouse or distribution centre that stays in step with the real building through its WMS, scanner, gate and dock data. It shows where every truck, pallet and order is right now, replays what happened on any shift, and flags what will miss its cut-off, so the inbound lead, inventory controller or dispatch in-charge acts before the problem spreads.
03Measures
Each measure is calculated from the system that recorded the event, not typed into a report, and each one can be opened on the area of the building it comes from.
| Measure | What it tells you | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Dock-to-stock time | Hours from a truck reaching the door to its pallets being pickable; long times point to receiving or putaway. | Dock schedule, GRN, putaway scans |
| Yard dwell time | Minutes a truck waits from gate-in to door; the number your carriers bill as detention. | Gate entries, dock slot bookings |
| Door utilisation | Share of door hours with a truck being worked; low with a full yard means a scheduling or equipment fault. | Dock schedule, maintenance tickets |
| Pallet occupancy | Occupied as a share of usable pallet positions, by aisle and level; above about 90% putaway slows. | Bin master, stock by location |
| Lines per picker-hour | Order lines picked and verified per hour of picking labour, by zone. | Pick scans, attendance or shift roster |
| Pick accuracy | Lines picked with the right item and quantity as a share of all lines, confirmed by scan. | Pick and pack verification scans |
| Orders packed against plan | Orders packed so far against the plan for this hour; shows early whether a cut-off is at risk. | Packing station scans, order plan |
| Location accuracy | Locations whose counted stock matches the system record, as a share of locations counted. | Cycle-count scans, stock history |
| Routes on time | Routes delivered inside the store's window as a share of routes run, over 30 days. | Route plan, POD events |
| Stock aged 90+ days | Share of stock value older than 90 days since receipt. | Stock ageing by receipt date |
04Problems it removes
None of these is new. The twin shows them on the floor plan while they are still small, with the owner and the cost of waiting.
The twin puts yard dwell next to door status, so a broken leveller or an empty truck waiting for its GRN is visible at once. Bookings are moved to a free door and the driver is told on WhatsApp.
Occupancy by aisle and level, with pallets coloured by age, shows where putaway rules are crowding fast movers into one aisle. The twin suggests slots by size, weight and distance to packing instead.
Each station reports its rate and faults, and the twin links queued orders to the routes they feed. The supervisor sees which route is at risk and diverts the orders before the van is due.
Every scan from gate to staging is joined on one record, so a single order can be traced across the building in one view. Stores get a status message before they think to ask.
05A shift on the twin
Three moments from a sample Thursday in the fictional DC shown above. The times, trucks and figures are illustrative.
Door I-6 stops extending its lip and turns dark on the twin. The twin re-slots both afternoon trucks to free doors and raises a maintenance ticket; the yard in-charge confirms on WhatsApp and the drivers are told where to back in.
Aisle 07 reaches 97% because it sits closest to packing. The twin suggests slots in aisle 02 for the 22 waiting pallets; the inventory controller approves and receiving lane I-3 clears before the next inbound wave.
Station P-6 reads every bag 0.4 kg heavy, so 96 orders fail their weight check and queue. The twin ties them to the evening route cut-off and proposes another station; the packing supervisor accepts and dispatch loads the boxes already staged.
06How it is built
The twin is built from the DC drawing and the records the warehouse already keeps; new sensors are added only where a missing reading costs money.
Doors, racks, aisles, levels, mezzanine, packing and staging are traced from the layout drawing and checked on a site walk, so every bin code has a place in 3D.
Each SKU and packing gets a checked weight, size and zone, because putaway, bag and pick suggestions all read from it.
WMS or ERP stock, the purchase list, gate entries, dock bookings, scanner events and route plans are joined on one record.
Dwell norms, occupancy limits, pick rates and cut-offs are agreed with the warehouse team, and each alert gets a named owner.
Shifts are reviewed on the replay, missed alerts become new rules, and more areas or sites are added on the same record.
07Compared
| Spreadsheets & floor walks | WMS reports or simulation software | Autowhat warehouse digital twin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it shows | Totals in a sheet, updated when someone has time | WMS: transactions and lists; simulation: a model of a planned layout | The real floor in 3D with live trucks, pallets, stations and orders in place |
| Data freshness | Yesterday or last shift | WMS: live but per screen; simulation: a one-off data set | Live from scans, gate and dock events, with 24-hour replay |
| Yard and dock | Gate register and phone calls | Often outside the WMS scope | Dwell, door status and re-slotting on the same view |
| Space and ageing | Physical walk of the aisles | Occupancy report by bin | Occupancy by aisle and level, pallets coloured by age, suggested slots |
| Who acts | Whoever notices | Whoever reads the report | Named owner per alert on WhatsApp, with the next step |
| Order traceability | Rebuilt from registers | Per transaction, screen by screen | One order drawn across the building from purchase-list line to van |
| Testing a change | Trial on the floor | Simulation: modelled before build, separate from live data | Proposed moves checked against today's real stock and orders |
MoreProducts behind this twin
FAQQuestions about warehouse digital twins
What warehouse and logistics heads ask before a briefing: what a warehouse twin is, what data it needs, how it differs from a WMS or simulation, and what it costs.
A warehouse digital twin is a live 3D model of a warehouse that stays in step with the real building through its WMS, scanner, gate and dock data. It shows where trucks, pallets and orders are now, replays past shifts and flags what will miss a cut-off, with the owner who should act.
It joins the floor plan to the events the warehouse already records. Each gate entry, dock booking, putaway scan, pick, pack and staging scan updates the 3D model in place, and rules on dwell, occupancy, pick rate and cut-offs raise alerts to named owners on WhatsApp.
A WMS records transactions: what was received, where it was put and what was picked. A warehouse digital twin reads the WMS and adds gate, dock, scale, route and maintenance data, then shows the whole floor in 3D so problems are seen where they happen. Autowhat Warehouse OS is our WMS; the twin sits on top of it or yours.
No. Simulation software models a planned layout or process with a prepared data set, usually before a building or automation project. A digital twin runs on live operational data every shift. The two meet when a proposed change, such as re-slotting an aisle, is checked against today's real stock and orders.
It is used to cut yard dwell, keep doors working, balance aisle occupancy, move aged stock off pick-height levels, protect route cut-offs and trace any order across the building. Managers review shifts on the replay and start the day with a ranked brief.
It needs a layout drawing with bin codes, a product master with checked weights and zones, stock by location from the WMS or ERP, gate entries, the dock schedule and scanner events. Route plans, scales and maintenance tickets add detail. Most DCs already hold all of this in some form.
Usually not to start. Barcode scans, gate entries and WMS stock already place most pallets and orders. Sensors are added only where a missing reading costs money, such as dock door status, cold-room temperature or forklift location in a large high-bay.
In logistics, the warehouse twin is one node. A supply-chain twin links plants, DCs, routes and customers on one record, so a stopped packing station shows its effect on the vans and stores downstream. Autowhat builds both on the same data.
The first DC is scoped in a 30-minute working session on your own data. A first live view of one area usually follows within weeks, starting with the layout, the product master and stock by location, then gate, dock, packing and outbound are added on the same record.
Autowhat prices each warehouse digital twin per deployment after a 30-minute working session; there is no public list price. Cost depends on the number of DCs, the size of the floor, the systems to connect and whether any sensors are needed. Indian DCs that already scan at putaway and packing usually start without new hardware.
Yes. The twin reads stock, bins, orders and GRNs from the WMS, ERP or Tally you already run, and from the Excel sheets and registers that fill the gaps. It does not replace your WMS unless you choose Warehouse OS for the steps it covers, such as purchase-list intake, bag allocation and bag-to-box scans.
The DC manager uses the overview and the morning brief. Inbound leads watch yard and doors, inventory controllers watch occupancy and counts, packing supervisors watch stations and dispatch in-charges watch cut-offs. Each gets only the alerts they own, on WhatsApp.
The twin runs on managed cloud, in your own VPC on AWS, Azure or GCP, or on-premises, with your keys. India data residency is available when required, and the data stays yours.
08Briefing
Send a layout drawing and a week of stock, gate and packing records. In a 30-minute working session an engineer shows what the twin of your DC would flag first.
