// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the centralized digital thread say? I'm sew connected.
Centralized digital thread refers to an approach to digital thread architecture in which product information is consolidated into a shared repository rather than maintained exclusively across separate departmental or organizational systems. A digital thread connects information generated throughout a product's product lifecycle, including design, manufacturing, and operations. Centralized implementations can provide an integrated view of product information and establish a common source of data for stakeholders across the lifecycle.[1][2]
Centralized approaches differ from federated digital thread approaches, in which information remains in its source systems and relationships between data are established through integration mechanisms.[3]
Background and history
[edit]The development of the digital thread concept is closely associated with aerospace, defense, and manufacturing applications, where organizations must manage complex engineering information across multiple stages of a product's lifecycle.[4]
Historically, engineering and manufacturing information was often maintained in separate systems and databases. The development of Product data management (PDM) and broader Product lifecycle management (PLM) systems provided increasingly integrated approaches for managing product information across design, manufacturing, and support activities.[5]
Research into digital-thread architectures has identified both centralized repository approaches and approaches that connect heterogeneous systems without requiring all information to be consolidated into a single repository.[3]
Concept and definitions
[edit]A digital thread is a data-driven architecture that links information generated across a product lifecycle. In a centralized digital thread, this connection is implemented by collecting product information into a common repository or platform. Such an architecture can provide a consolidated view of product information and allow data generated by different lifecycle activities to be accessed through a common system.[1][2]
Instead of retaining information solely within the specialized software used to create it, information can be transferred or replicated into a central repository. The repository can serve as a common reference for product information, including files, versions, relationships, and metadata.
Data transformation and integration are important aspects of digital-thread implementations because product lifecycle systems commonly generate data in different formats and structures. Information from different systems may be transformed into standardized or compatible representations so that it can be accessed and processed consistently.[6]
Architecture and components
[edit]A centralized digital thread uses a data architecture designed to collect and manage information generated across the product lifecycle. Typical components include a central repository, data-integration mechanisms, applications that generate product information, and interfaces through which users access the information.[6]
Central data repository: A database, data warehouse, or data lake can serve as the primary storage location for product information. Product lifecycle management (PLM) systems may provide a centralized platform for managing and integrating product-related information, processes, and collaboration across departments and lifecycle stages.[2]
Data pipelines: Data-integration processes can extract information from individual software systems, transform it into compatible representations, and load it into a central repository. This process may use Extract, transform, load (ETL) technologies and other forms of data integration.[7]
Unified user interface: A dashboard or portal can provide users with access to information collected in the central repository. This can provide stakeholders with a consolidated view of product information without requiring direct access to every system in which the information was originally created.[2]
Related concepts
[edit]Digital twin: A digital twin links a physical system or product with a corresponding virtual representation. Digital-thread architectures provide lifecycle information that can support the creation and operation of digital twins by connecting information generated during design, production, and operation.[8]
Federated digital thread: A federated digital thread represents an alternative architecture in which product information remains distributed among its original systems while relationships between information from different systems are established through integration and linking mechanisms. Research into digital-thread architectures has examined approaches for linking data across heterogeneous repositories rather than consolidating all information in one repository.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Singh, Victor; Willcox, Karen E. (2018). "Engineering Design with Digital Thread". AIAA Journal. 56 (11): 4515–4528. doi:10.2514/1.J057255.
- 1 2 3 4 Abdel-Aty, Tasnim A.; Negri, Elisa (2024). "Conceptualizing the digital thread for smart manufacturing: a systematic literature review". Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. 35: 3629–3653. doi:10.1007/s10845-024-02407-1. hdl:11311/1265283.
- 1 2 3 Hedberg, Thomas D.; Bajaj, Manas; Camelio, Jaime A. (2020). "Using Graphs to Link Data Across the Product Lifecycle for Enabling Smart Manufacturing Digital Threads". Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering. 20 (1). doi:10.1115/1.4044921. PMC 7437158.
- ↑ Zhang, Qiang; Liu, Jihong; Chen, Xu (2024). "A Literature Review of the Digital Thread: Definition, Key Technologies, and Applications". Systems. 12 (3): 70. doi:10.3390/systems12030070.
- ↑ Stark, John (2015). Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 1): 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realisation. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17440-2.
- 1 2 Helu, Moneer; Hedberg, Thomas D.; Feeney, Allison Barnard (2017). "Reference architecture to integrate heterogeneous manufacturing systems for the digital thread". CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology. 19: 191–195. doi:10.1016/j.cirpj.2017.04.002. PMC 6459417.
- ↑ Hedberg, Thomas D.; Lubell, Joshua; Fischer, Lyle; Maggiano, Larry; Feeney, Allison Barnard (2016). "Testing the Digital Thread in Support of Model-Based Manufacturing and Inspection". Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering. 16 (2): 021001. doi:10.1115/1.4032697. PMC 4904719.
- ↑ Grieves, Michael; Vickers, John (2017). "Digital Twin: Mitigating Unpredictable, Undesirable Emergent Behavior in Complex Systems". Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Complex Systems. Springer. pp. 85–113. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-38756-7_4.