Promise and Reality of the Digital Thread - Results of Industry Research
A Complimentary CIMdata Educational Webinar with James Roche, Aerospace & Defense Practice Director, CIMdata
9 March 2023
11:00 EST | 08:00 PST | 17:00 CET
Replay Webinar About our Speaker
CIMdata's primary research indicates that those responsible for planning and implementing digital thread solutions frequently experience a variety of concerns:
- Attempts to implement a digital thread often result in a series of false starts and frustration.
- A digital thread strategy seems doable at first but then stalls out as unforeseen complexities arise and uncertainty sets in.
- Attempts to implement systems engineering and collaborative development are stymied by the lack of a roadmap for linking the multiple product representations of the various disciplines involved.
- The digital thread vision seems so expansive that it is difficult to know where to start.
- It is hard to see how a digital thread strategy can be planned and implemented incrementally with a predictable return on investment.
- The organization suffers from pervasive uncertainty and second-guessing due to a lack of data regarding the current status and future investment in digital thread implementations within industry.
The concept of linking multiple representations of a product, each tuned to the needs of various creators and consumers along the lifecycle, is very powerful. Until recently, tracing these linkages has been primarily a manual process, extracting product information from myriad heterogeneous systems and relating them in ad hoc reports. But now, with recent advances in commercial PLM solutions, the digital thread, with automated linkages and traceability, has become a practical possibility.
With the newness of this approach, there is not much available in the way of lessons learned or actual value achieved. This lack of real data is a barrier to broader investment. On the solution side, providers are constantly seeking additional insight into the current state and future investment drivers within industry, which is crucial to their solution strategies and roadmaps. CIMdata, on behalf of the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group, has recently completed an extensive industry research project on the digital thread. Aras, Eurostep, Jama Software, PTC, and Siemens Digital Industries Software were also research partners.
This webinar will share CIMdata’s perspective on the digital thread: what it is, what drives its value, and how value is effectively realized in practice. A report out on key findings from the industry research will be provided.
What will I learn?
- You will gain an understanding of the basic concept of a digital thread as the progression of product representations, or structures, that are created and consumed along the product lifecycle.
- You will learn about the basic guidelines for designing and incrementally implementing a digital thread vision.
- You will understand the perspectives of industry leaders regarding the nature of the digital thread and drivers for investment.
- You will learn where and how industry leaders have successfully implemented portions of their digital thread vision.
- You will learn where and how industry leaders are planning to invest in the future expansion of their digital thread vision.
- You will recognize the most significant barriers that have been faced and the mitigation methods employed by industry leaders in pursuit of their digital thread vision.
- You will find out how industry leaders view the current state of digital thread-enabling technologies and the degree of alignment with their solution providers.
Who should attend?
Anyone with responsibility or interest in product program integration, systems engineering, PLM program planning, or, more generally, in digitalization or digital thread would find the presentation interesting. Specific roles would include:
- Product program managers
- Product program planners
- Systems engineers
- PLM program and project managers
- PLM program planners
- PLM solution architects
- PLM business analysts
- Digitalization strategists
During the webinar you’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions about the topics discussed.