Digital Twins & Virtual Commissioning
Test, train and optimize on a virtual copy before you spend on the real one
In short
Wartens USA builds virtual commissioning twins, machine or line models driven by the real or simulated PLC program, so logic, interlocks and sequences are debugged before site work. It also builds planning and layout twins, operational twins with live data, a web 3D viewer and what-if simulation, and VR training twins, all from the client's CAD at 1:1 scale. Typical buyers are machine builders, integrators and pharma, semiconductor, packaging and warehousing plants.
A digital twin lets you test, train and optimize on a virtual copy of your machine or plant before you spend time and money on the real one. Our twins, built through iUNI, are modeled from CAD data at 1:1 scale, connected to live sensor data, and used for planning, training, monitoring and virtual commissioning.
Because we are automation engineers first, the twin runs the same control logic your plant will run. Virtual commissioning moves the debugging of PLC code into a virtual environment before it reaches physical equipment.
Digital Twins & Virtual Commissioning in the United States
The services we lead with locally, what you get and who they suit best.
What we offer
Four twins we build
Virtual commissioning twin
A machine or line model driven by your real or simulated PLC program, so logic, interlocks and sequences are tested before site work. For machine builders and system integrators.
Planning and layout twin
A VR walk-through of a new line or factory to check layout, flow and ergonomics before investing in physical infrastructure. For plant engineering and new-build projects.
Operational twin
A live replica fed by sensor data, with a web-based 3D viewer, analytics dashboard, anomaly detection and what-if simulation, integrated with SCADA, PLC and ERP. For operations, maintenance and energy managers.
Training twin
VR replicas of your equipment where operators and engineers practice procedures and faults safely. For HR, training and safety managers.
What the evidence shows
Virtual commissioning results reported in industry
Design phase cut by 10% and commissioning time by 25% at machine builder Tronrud
Software quality rose from 37% to 84% while real commissioning time fell 75%, in a field study
Real commissioning of machine tools up to 70% faster
On-site commissioning time cut by 70% on a brownfield engine assembly line
Results reported by the organizations named; they are not Wartens project results.
Why now
The global digital twin market was valued at about USD 35.8 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow 31.1% a year to 2033, with North America the largest region (Grand View Research). Major vendors are investing: Siemens launched Digital Twin Composer in January 2026, built on NVIDIA Omniverse libraries (MarketsandMarkets).
Open standards
Clients increasingly ask for twins that other systems can read. The ISO 23247 series sets out a digital twin framework for manufacturing. In Germany, the Asset Administration Shell is the standardised digital twin used across the Manufacturing-X data-space projects, and 75 electrical and digital companies have committed to build it into their products.
How we deliver
One model serves all four uses, so a twin built for commissioning keeps paying back in operations and training. A typical digital twin project takes 12 to 24 weeks.
Why Wartens
Why build your twin with Wartens
Same logic as the plant
The twin runs your real PLC program, not an animation, so what passes virtually behaves the same on site.
Built from your CAD
1:1 models from your engineering data, connected to live sensors when the plant is running.
Open standards on request
Twins can be structured for interoperability, following the ISO 23247 framework and, in Germany, the Asset Administration Shell.
Reused across the lifecycle
Commissioning, operations and training all use the same model.
Explore more
Related services
Our practices share one engineering center. Here's what pairs well with Digital Twins & Virtual Commissioning.
See every service we offer here, or explore the industries we serve.
Start with a short discovery call
Send us your drawings, code or site details. A Wartens engineer will reply with a written scope, schedule and price, not a sales script.
Questions we're asked
Virtual commissioning tests a PLC program against a virtual model of the machine or line before any physical equipment is powered up. Logic, interlocks and sequences are debugged in simulation, so site time is spent commissioning rather than finding software errors. Wartens builds virtual commissioning models driven by your real or simulated PLC program on Rockwell and Siemens platforms.
In software-in-the-loop, an emulated PLC such as PLCSIM Advanced or Studio 5000 Logix Emulate runs your program against the virtual plant, so no hardware is needed. In hardware-in-the-loop, a real controller is connected to the simulation, which also tests I/O timing and the network. Many projects start with software-in-the-loop and move to hardware-in-the-loop before startup.
A simulation models how a system could behave. A digital twin is a model of a specific machine or plant, built from its CAD at 1:1 scale and, once running, connected to live sensor data. Wartens builds one twin that can serve virtual commissioning, layout planning, operations monitoring and VR operator training, so the model keeps paying back after startup.