Category: PPM Blog

IntroductionAs industries embrace digital transformation, several foundational concepts have emerged to guide the shift toward smarter, more efficient, and more integrated systems. Among these are digitization, digitalization, the digital thread, Model-Based Design (MBD), and the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE). This blog provides a definition for each concept and explores how they interrelate within modern engineering and …

Read more “Interconnected Concepts in the Digital Transformation of Engineering and Manufacturing”

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing environment, the ability to seamlessly connect data, processes, and people is more critical than ever. A well-implemented digital thread can provide the visibility and agility needed to thrive in this landscape. Business Process Management (BPM) serves as a crucial framework in building this digital thread, enabling organizations to streamline operations, enhance …

Read more “Building Your Production Digital Thread with BPM: A Comprehensive Guide”

This is the core illustration from the recently published Department of Defense Directive 5000.97 on Digital Engineering.  The directive describes the DoD concepts behind the Digital Engineering Ecosystem that includes digital engineering and the technical activities including manufacturing and quality. Digital Engineering Ecosystem: Theinfrastructure and architecture (hardware, software, networks, tools, workforce) necessary to support digital …

Read more “US Department of Defense Digital Engineering Ecosystem”

I was delighted to participate in the NIST driven Model Based Enterprise Summit held in Chicago the week of April 21.  We were invited to speak at the event and had a great opportunity to visit with many of the participants regarding opportunities and issues surrounding the concept of the Digital Thread, particularly as applied …

Read more “Model Based Enterprise Summit”

US Department of Defense Definition: A digital thread is an extensible, configurable, multi-directional integration of authoritative technical data, software, and information throughout a product’s or system’s life cycle, enabling the capture of decision-making information and knowledge. A concise explanation is that the digital thread contains all the necessary information to build and update digital twins. …

Read more “Applying Digital Thread Across Manufacturing”

Digital Thread and Production Process Management™ are related concepts within manufacturing and product lifecycle management. Here is a comparison of the two:   Scope Digital Thread: The Digital Thread is a comprehensive concept that encompasses the end-to-end connectivity of digital information related to a product throughout its entire lifecycle. It includes not only the production processes …

Read more “Comparing Digital Thread and Production Process Management™”

Digital Thread refers to the connected flow of digital information throughout the entire lifecycle of a product, process, or system. It involves the seamless integration of data, information, and knowledge across various stages, from design and manufacturing to operation, maintenance, and even eventual decommissioning. The concept of a Digital Thread aims to provide a unified …

Read more “What is a Digital Thread”

  Digital transformation concepts will drive improved performance for all manufacturing companies. A core ingredient of this transformation process is the Digital Thread that can collect and collate a set of information for a variety of users ranging from product designers to manufacturing management to accounting to compliance management, and customer research.  The problems behind …

Read more “Digital Transformation and the Digital Thread”

In a previous blog I mentioned concepts including Smart Manufacturing, Manufacturing 4.0, and others that are driving manufacturing improvement toward a full digital transformation. One important segment of these efforts is something called the Digital Thread. Simply put, Digital Thread is the idea of capturing or delivering information in a digital form across the range …

Read more “The Manufacturing Digital Thread”

Digital transformation in manufacturing is coming your way. So is Industry 4.0, Smart Manufacturing and the Internet of Things (IOT).  These often-overlapping concepts are all aimed at applying digital technology to enhance your ability to see and react more quickly to changing conditions within your company and across your value chain. Manufacturing enterprise information can …

Read more “Digital Transformation in Manufacturing?”