An example from India illustrates the operational purpose of digital twins in logistics.
VO Chidambaranar Port introduced a digital-twin platform for port management in 2026. It combines IoT sensors, GPS, LiDAR mapping, drone images and CCTV data to maintain a continuously updated digital representation of the port.
The operational aim is to help everyone involved see what is happening sooner. Where are delays developing? Which area is blocked? Which equipment has failed? How do vessels, vehicles and handling processes affect one another? What happens when demand, weather, equipment or time windows change?
A digital twin is a working model for decisions.
For German logistics professionals, the useful starting point is to examine their own visibility of operations:
- Which operational reality can nobody see in full today?
- Which information is spread across emails, PDFs, phone calls, spreadsheets and systems?
- Which decisions happen unnecessarily late as a result?
- Which questions recur because the process is unclear?
AI in logistics can start by helping people share a better understanding of the operational situation.
When permits, transport data, customer requirements, dispatch status and open questions remain disconnected, the clarification burden grows. A digital twin can make it visible, and AI can help reduce it.
AI know-how for logistics professionals in 2 minutes
What is a digital twin?
A digital twin is a digital working model of a real system.
At a port, it might represent areas, vessels, cranes, access roads, storage zones and traffic flows. In transport logistics, it could represent a project: the order, vehicle, route, permit, conditions, time window, contacts and status.
The model becomes useful when current data flows into it and helps people decide. Typical questions include:
- What is the current state?
- What is missing?
- What does not fit together?
- Which decision is next?
- Who needs to respond?
At ViMoKi, we work on preparing decisions by reading documents, structuring information, flagging open points and preparing operational clarification.