In a world where communication is faster than ever, details still get lost, especially when coming from one system to another. This is where Digital Thread & Digital Twin comes in. Enabling digital thread and digital twin integration allows users to seamlessly connect and communicate across multiple platforms and systems to ensure communication is not lost or forgotten. Let’s take a deeper dive into each one & and how they will enhance your system processes.
What is the Digital Thread?
The digital thread is the communication framework that links all information that belongs to a product across the development process and IT systems. Digital thread ultimately enables manufacturers to re-purpose, reuse and trace product information throughout the product development lifecycle and supply chain. When you integrate your designs into a ‘digital thread,’ partners, suppliers, and vendors are all connected to be consistently updated and trace the product data. Whether you are working on 3D models or other data files, your product development team will always have access to the most recent and up-to-date parts and can communicate and collaborate effectively through all domains.
Creating an end-to-end information chain that reliably provides the right information is a BIG challenge as collecting and managing product data structures from multiple disciplines can get highly complex in the production process. The image above illustrates the successful integration between PLM, SDM, ALM, Requirements Management, MRP, ERP, Cloud, and other systems.
What is the Digital Twin?
The digital twin represents an asset that includes its metadata – design and models. The 3d model helps you understand how your digital model will and can act in real-world scenarios. In other words, digital twins make it possible to simulate the behavior of your physical asset, whether it be a car, airplane, or organization manufacturing plant. The digital twin enables you to monitor them for continuous improvement since there is a constant feedback loop. The digital twin’s primary purpose is to give you better insight into the system and how it behaves in the real world.
How Does Digital Twin and Digital Thread Enhance Your Product Lifecycle Development?
Since the digital thread gives you the framework for system interoperability and traceable information throughout the supply chain, manufacturers can work with consistent – up-to-date data throughout the lifecycle. In turn, your processes improve, errors reduce, and your ability to create your products becomes more efficient, shortening time to market.
Combined with the digital twin, you’ll have vital information as to how your products work in the real world and can make your adjustments accordingly.
How Do you Integrate Digital Thread and Twin Into Your Current Processes?
A Solution to Enable Digital Thread and Twin
PROSTEP products and solutions enable the digital thread through:
With REPLICATION through OpenPDM, you’ll be able to share and synchronize data (CAD for CAE and BOM for manufacturing) between systems.
With FEDERATION through OpenCLM, you’ll be able to provide intelligent, traceable links between systems, giving you real-time access to data managed in another system.
With COLLABORATION through OpenDXM GlobalX, you’ll be able to automatically share data securely and reliably with your suppliers and customers securely with encrypted transport and digital rights management.
With COMMUNICATION through 3D PDF Technologies, you’ll be able to generate 3D PDFs, Technical Data Packages (TDPs), and visualize data in HTML5 so that data from multiple systems can be combined into a secure document.
How can PROSTEP help enable your Digital Thread and Twin Initiatives?
As leading partners with major PLM vendors, including SIEMENS, Dassault, and PTC, our vendor-neutral approach gives you the best tools to make digital transformation a reality. Vendor-neutral connectors enable the communication flow between all your systems. OpenPDM is the bridge and digital thread to connect your data.
What is the API for the Digital Thread?
Traditional views of large enterprise development see information siloed throughout different departments. A change occurring in the design can have a significant impact on time and costs if not reflected throughout the product’s lifecycle. Integrating, synchronizing, and managing development data throughout the product development process becomes difficult in the ever-growing, complex environments comprised of siloed systems.
When you add the rapid acceleration of technology advancements such as Industry 4.0, model-based systems engineering (MBSE), and rapid concurrent development (across domains)… remove blockchain.
As a result, companies find it difficult to manage and maintain their product data as well as stay competitive with the changing pace of technology. But much of that confusion can be eliminated if the correct processes are built into your product design workflow. One method for eliminating complexity is the deployment of a robust API.
Watch the Introductory videos: