Industry Summary Articles

The concepts of the digital twin and digital thread have been around for decades. Industry insiders generally agree they should be joined to maximize their value and justify the effort of keeping them current—clear and concise, for example, and valid. Yet the gaps between them seem not to be closing.

It's always awkward to insert definitions into an article this early. Given the misinformation about digital twins and digital threads that's “out there,” however, good definitions reveal key differences between digital twins and digital threads, why they must be joined, and why doing so is a persistent challenge.

The digital twin is a virtual representation of an enterprise's product, or any physical asset, e.g., manufacturing equipment, one twin for each unique physical product and all that defines it. The digital twin represents the product as of a specific point in time and from then on through the end of the asset’s lifecycle.

A digital thread is the communication framework that allows a continuous data flow and integrated views of an asset's digital twin. As an integral part of the digital twin, the digital thread gathers, secures, and maintains information about the configuration of the asset or product. This is why the digital thread should be part of the digital twin; it is what ensures that the digital twin is always accurate.

A digital thread's lifecycle begins when its accompanying digital twin is conceived and extends through the end of usable life of that product.

Information in the both digital twin and the digital thread is holistic—end-to-end within itself as well as connected to the product's environment via factory and other networks of sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Digital twins are ubiquitous. By whatever name (or even no name), there are thousands of them in every business unit. In even small enterprises, there are probably tens of thousands of them. As LNS Research recently observed, digital twins “are found throughout the asset lifecycle, from design and engineering to operations, and across the value chain from demand forecasting to planning and scheduling to distribution.”*

Both the digital twin and the physical product it represents are directly affected by design validations, minor modifications, last-minute changes, material substitutions, changes in warranty agreements, revised regulations, and much else, which can be tracked in the digital thread and made visible in the digital twin.

The specifics of digital twins and digital threads differ widely, of course, but many of their underlying considerations are similar; both are nourished many of the same information flows, especially if they are enabled with PLM.

A digital twin without a digital thread is an orphan, disconnected from the decisions and processes that impact it. Whether the product is a drill bit or an airliner, its virtual representation will undoubtedly struggle to be complete without a digital thread. When information flows between them are synchronized and unimpeded, every business unit gains…

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