What is ‘digital thread?'

Without thread, your clothes would have buttons over here, cloth over there and the lining somewhere else. Disparate parts. Disparate places. Impossible to wear. 

Similarly, without a digital thread, aerospace manufacturers may have their design data over here, their manufacturing data over there, and their maintenance data somewhere else. When they try to connect these -- one-to-one across hundreds of applications and even more vendors, each isolated in its own silo -- it’s nothing but a complicated mess. Here's where they need a digital thread.

As with your clothing, the best way to hold the parts together is with thread. Using a "digital thread" and the related components such as digital twin, data hubs, and advanced analytics can translate to technology and solutions that enable a completely transformed, connected digital enterprise. Using digital thread to weave together the virtual lifecycle of product design, manufacturing processes, shop floor production systems, operational support, and maintenance and service in the field leads to new opportunity and higher profitability.

So, what is digital thread? A new approach.

We define digital thread as the integration of all the digital collateral available across different aspects of a given product’s manufacturing process. When viewed this way, digital thread is not a product or piece of software, but an operational concept.  

In aerospace manufacturing, for example, it’s important to gather, store and keep information current -- about product design, decisions made during the process, component suppliers, how and where the product was manufactured, maintenance logs and basically every aspect of the manufacturing process. It's called product data management.

It’s a big vision, but all that data can be gathered and managed in a single view. In such a state, this data can now be analyzed, leading to an improved “next design” and the opportunity to correct issues or improve products that may already be in use. In short, digital thread can be used to connect and improve business processes.

The benefits of digital thread can include:

• Lower costs: Stay on budget with greater efficiency and less scrap
• Higher-quality products: Use better designs with fewer re-do’s, further reducing costs and speeding time-to-market
• Faster throughput: Get more product out the door, better manage your backlog, and keep up with demand and satisfy customers

Benefits from each of these improvements are intertwined. For example, while improving quality is important on its own, higher product quality and precision in digital manufacturing can also help lower materials costs due to less scrap. It can also lower workforce costs by reducing the need for re-builds.

These important benefits are just the beginning. A digital thread can also bring value when aerospace manufacturers are looking at new customer and regulatory requirements regarding traceability and quality. There are many requirements to provide a digital trail for real-time insight.

Customers are demanding faster product lead times, compressing supply chains and causing shorter production time. Many customers expect the manufacturer to monitor, repair and support their products proactively. Imagine the value of a digital thread for both forecasting and for tracing pieces and parts when a product recall occurs.

How does digital thread work?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing the product development digital value chain by providing new levels of connectedness and functionality. This change empowers aerospace manufacturers with new ways to develop, innovate, and link digital manufacturing and operations due to the endless connections available.

This new Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) makes it possible to collect data from factories with much less effort and cost than before. On top of that, technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) make it possible to process large amounts of data and gain insights to further predict outcomes and potential issues such as machine failures, component shortages, and quality issues.

All this is how digital thread “works” – IIoT, AI and machine learning are enabling technologies that make it more compelling and cost effective to turn this operational concept into a reality. Manufacturing processes are increasingly being forced to use digital thread to integrate with other business applications and IoT can help automate end-to-end business processes. The silos of various processes in the product development lifecycle are slowly being connected to integrate and drive new design, digital manufacturing, and support processes and to develop connected products and services.

Digital thread is closely connected with product lifecycle management (PLM) in product design and manufacturing. The evolution of IIoT in the market has made adopting digital thread a much more mainstream concept.

Managing costs in aerospace manufacturing organizations is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, finding ways to maintain the information from disparate products or systems that are already in production, and identifying root causes of failures becomes more important. Product lifecycles are complex, and digital thread gives manufacturers a new opportunity improve product data management and depend on data and digitization for better control.

The huge number of IoT sensors embedded in products gives exponential ways to gather and use data for continuous feedback and apply it to the many components already in production. If sensors from an operational product capture data that suggests a component is not performing optimally, the manufacturer can use that data to modify the product design for the next model of the product, making changes throughout the value chain as needed.

This means that IIOT manufacturing information, gathered from the “things” themselves can now be used for visualization and testing changes to the entire lifecycle. Data from every part of the world is available when needed and can be analyzed to reduce maintenance tasks, reduce energy consumption and optimize throughput in production.

Make the digital thread decision

The value of digital thread isn’t just in the thread itself, it’s in the business value that comes from information accessibility across an enterprise and its supply chain.  And this value isn’t just measured by saving dollars. It is also measured by the quality of the final product and, in some circumstances, even the potential to save lives.

If they’re not already, companies with traditional data and application silos will soon find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage. But aerospace manufacturers can consciously choose to introduce significantly more efficiency, effectiveness, quality and safety into the platforms they build and own. In the end, starting a complex program without addressing digital thread doesn’t make sense. There is every reason to adopt the technology to benefit your organization, your supply chain and the people who depend on your products.