What Is the Digital Thread? – Explaining Its Relationship to Digital Twins, Engineering & Digital Transformation

Digital Thread

3HTi

Introduction: Why Sharing Product Information Efficiently Matters

Imagine what could go wrong if (for example) an engineering team (building a plane, a car, a Medical device or any other product) doesn’t share their work. If that engineering data is not shared with manufacturing and other departments, mistakes and delays are likely to happen. 

That’s why the digital thread is being adopted by leading manufacturing companies. The Digital Thread connects every piece of product data and information from the first ideas through engineering and design, analysis, manufacturing, delivery, and field support. The digital thread makes sure that everyone working on a product has the information they need to make informed decisions and provides traceability throughout all product development processes. 

In this article, we’ll explain what the digital thread is, how it works with digital twins and digital engineering, and why these ideas are important for modern companies that make complex products.

Key Takeaways

 What Is the Digital Thread?

• The digital thread connects all product development data and intellectual property from the first design ideas through engineering and design, analysis, manufacturing, delivery, and field support
• It ensures that everyone working on a product—designers, engineers, manufacturers, and service teams—has access to the same, up-to-date information.
• The foundation for the Digital Thread is a strong Product Lifecycle Management system (PLM).

How Digital Twins and the Digital Thread Work Together

• A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical product that shows real-time performance to understand and measure its physical counterparts.  There are 3 components – a digital definition (generated from CAD files, PLM, ALM, etc),  Operational/Experiential Data (gathered from IoT data, Real World Telemetry) and an information model. This spans the full product lifecycle providing engineering, manufacturing and service use cases to predict and improve product functionality and performance.
• The digital thread is the platform hosting the data that powers the digital twin, helping companies predict problems and optimize product performance.

The Role of Digital Engineering

• Digital Engineering uses digital tools like 3D models and simulations to design and test products before the manufacturing process or building prototypes.
• When combined with the digital thread, Digital Engineering allows mechanical, electrical, and software teams to collaborate more effectively and catch mistakes early in the design process.

Why the Digital Thread Is Important for Manufacturing

• Helps people and teams work more efficiently by having access to real-time data collected by actual real world working machines and teams.
• Supports product improvements by connecting customer feedback and service data back to the engineering department.
• Acts as a key part of smart manufacturing by leveraging PLM, CAD Data, Intellectual Property, data collected from IoT solutions, and modern digital strategies like Industry 4.0.

Steps to Build a Digital Thread

1. Review current processes and find where data is being lost and challenges in sharing data.
2. Discover technologies that support a digital thread strategy in CAD, PLM, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and if needed, ALM (Accelerated Lifecycle Management).  This can include Creo and its suite of configurations or extensions, Windchill PLM, ThingWorx IoT and Codebeamer.  ERP and MES systems can also integrate with PLM to optimize processes.
3. Create an implementation plan (with a company like 3 HTi) for step by step implementation and training so everyone understands how to use the systems which pertain to their role and responsibility.
4. Start slow and then expand as you experience success and people are confident in using these tools and processes.
5. Measure success by tracking improvements in teamwork, quality, and problem-solving.

Why the Digital Thread Matters

• The digital thread helps companies make informed decisions, reducing mistakes and provides faster solutions to problems
• It improves collaboration and teamwork throughout the enterprise. 
• Improves product quality, and maintains compliance requirements.
• Increases New Product Introduction and Speed to Market, increasing Profits and Market share

Section 1: What Is the Digital Thread?

According to PTC, A digital thread is an interconnected flow of relevant data that defines a product throughout its lifecycle. It provides a comprehensive view of a product’s journey, from initial design and development to manufacturing, maintenance, service, and retirement.

It enables organizations to break down silos, streamline workflows, and achieve interoperability across departments, functions, and systems. A digital thread secures the quality and consistency of product-related data—keeping everyone up-to-date and on the same page.

Ultimately it allows organizations to extract value from, or make use of, product data that was previously inaccessible, underutilized, or hidden to unlock business value and opportunities.

How the Digital Thread Works

The Digital Thread connects processes, people and data including design, engineering, analysis, manufacturing, quality, delivery, maintenance and support, marketing, sales, external vendors and much more. 

When people are connected to data through their processes, in the digital thread, everyone involved is informed with the correct data with traceability throughout the process. If someone makes a change, the update flows through the whole process avoiding confusion, delays and costly mistakes.

Why the Digital Thread Is Useful

• Improve collaboration and teamwork: Data is accurate, secure and easy to access for those whom are approved.
• Faster problem-solving: CAD models and meta data are available and can be interrogated early in the design stage.
• Improved quality: Accurate data helps people to make informed decisions and changes quickly and consistently to reach product standards.
• Simplified Compliance: Companies can follow rules and standards since they are implemented into the PLM system to manage the details of the processes.

For example, if a medical device company discovers that a part on a new series 3 device isn’t working right, the digital thread provides quick direction to trace the origin of the problem and fix it.

Section 2: How Digital Twins and the Digital Thread Work Together

You may have heard about digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical product that shows real-time performance to understand and measure its physical counterparts currently and in the future. 

What Is a Digital Twin?

Imagine a wind turbine out in the field. A digital twin of that turbine uses data from IoT sensors to relay its performance and reliability. This helps engineers spot problems before they occur.

How the Digital Thread Helps the Digital Twin

The digital thread feeds data into the digital twin. Without this data, the digital twin would provide an inaccurate reality of performance.

For example, think of a jet engine. Sensors inside the actual jet engine send information from IoT through the digital thread to the digital twin. Engineers interrogate and test the digital twin to see if the engine what issues may arise and when. This helps support teams provide preventative maintenance to reduce or eliminate breakdowns and saves money.

The digital thread and digital twin work best as a team—one provides the data, the other uses that data to provide insight to keep products running optimally.

Section 3: How Digital Engineering Supports the Digital Thread

What Is Digital Engineering?

Digital engineering helps different teams work together to design complex products, including products that integrate software with mechanical and electrical components. Digital engineering uses computers to design, test, and improve products. Instead of building lots of prototypes, engineers create digital models to see how the product will perform.

This includes:

• 3D design models.
• Simulations to check if the product will perform as expected.
• Plans for electronics and software.

How Digital Engineering and the Digital Thread Work Together

The digital thread connects all the work done by different engineering teams. Here’s how it helps:

• Mechanical, electrical, and software engineers can share their work and data easily with other departments.
• Design and engineering changes can be identified and updated early in the process using simulation tools.
• Topology Optimization and Design Optimization tools used up front can create new and innovative designs utilizing less materials and weight.

For example, if a team is designing a smartwatch, the digital thread makes sure that the people working on the screen, battery, and software are all equally informed throughout their individual processes.

Section 4: Why the Digital Thread Is Important for Manufacturing

Manufacturing is about more than just an assembly line. Today, factories use smart machines and computers to track how products are built. The digital thread connects this information across the enterprise.

Improving Products Faster

When companies know how their products are being used by consumers, they can find ways to make them better to meet consumer demands. The digital thread manages customer feedback and service data making it available to the design team and other appropriate teams.

For example, if people using an electric scooter keep having trouble using the electronic interface properly, the company can use data from the digital thread to make updates to the software of the interface for existing models. 

Connecting Big Ideas Like IoT and Smart Manufacturing

The Internet of Things (IoT) means products and machines that share data. Smart manufacturing uses this data to improve how things are made. The digital thread ties all of this together, making sure the right data gets to the right place.

Section 5: How Companies Can Successfully Build a Digital Thread

1. Define the scope and goals: Identify the specific products, processes, or areas of the business that will benefit from a Digital Thread. Determine the desired outcomes, such as improved product quality, reduced production time, or increased efficiency.
2. Assess current state: Evaluate the company’s current digital landscape, including existing systems, tools, and data management practices. Identify areas where data is generated, stored, and used.
3. Develop a data management strategy: Create a plan for managing data across the product lifecycle. This includes deciding on data storage, integration, and analytics tools. Consider using a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system as a central hub for data management.
4. Establish data standards and interoperability: Define data standards and ensure interoperability between different systems and tools. This includes using standardized data formats, such as STEP or JT, and implementing APIs or other integration mechanisms.
5. Implement digital tools and technologies: Introduce digital tools and technologies that support the Digital Thread, such as:
   • Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software.
   • PLM systems.
   • Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
   • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
   • Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices.
   • Data analytics and visualization tools.
6. Create a digital representation of the product: Develop a digital twin or a digital representation of the product, which includes its design, production, and operational data. This digital representation will serve as the foundation for the Digital Thread.
7. Integrate data across the product lifecycle: Connect data from different stages of the product lifecycle, such as design, production, testing, and maintenance. Use data integration tools and APIs to link data from various sources.
8. Enable data analytics and insights: Use data analytics tools to derive insights from the integrated data. This can help identify trends, optimize production processes, and predict potential issues.
9. Implement a feedback loop: Create a feedback loop that allows data from downstream processes (e.g., production, maintenance) to be fed back into upstream processes (e.g., design). This enables continuous improvement and optimization.
10. Monitor and refine the Digital Thread: Continuously monitor the Digital Thread’s effectiveness and refine as needed. This involves updating data management practices, improving data quality, and expanding the scope of the Digital Thread.
11. Develop a change management plan: Implement a change management plan to ensure that employees are trained and equipped to work with the new Digital Thread. This includes providing training on new tools, processes, and data management practices.
12. Measure ROI and benefits: Track the benefits and ROI of the Digital Thread implementation, such as improved product quality, reduced production time, or increased efficiency.

By following these steps, a manufacturing company can successfully implement a Digital Thread and start realizing its benefits.  3 HTi can help develop, plan and execute your Digital Thread strategy for measurable success.

Final Thoughts: Why the Digital Thread Helps Companies Succeed

The Digital Thread is a communication framework that connects traditionally siloed elements in manufacturing processes and provides a unified view of data across the product lifecycle.  This brings people, processes and data together to find and fix problems, make better products and get them to market faster!

At 3HTi, we help companies get the digital thread from and idea into action. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or want to improve your current process, we can help you make sure your data works together across your business.

Want to learn how the digital thread can make your products stronger and your work easier? Contact3HTi  or call us at 609-303-3400 today to get started.