Digital thread: Difference between revisions

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{{context|date=November 2018}}

'''Digital thread''', also known as digital chain,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Bonnard |firstfirst1=Renan |last2=Hascoët |first2=Jean-Yves |last3=Mognol |first3=Pascal |last4=Stroud |first4=Ian |date=2018-11-02 |title=STEP-NC digital thread for additive manufacturing: data model, implementation and validation |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0951192X.2018.1509130 |journal=International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing |language=en |volume=31 |issue=11 |pages=1141–1160 |doi=10.1080/0951192X.2018.1509130 |s2cid=205631104 |issn=0951-192X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> is defined as “the use of digital tools and representations for design, evaluation, and life cycle management.”.<ref name=":0" /> It is a data-driven architecture that links data gathered during a [[Product lifecycle]] from all involved and distributed manufacturing systems.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Yang |firstfirst1=Bo |last2=Wang |first2=Shilong |last3=Li |first3=Shi |last4=Bi |first4=Fengyang |date=March 2023 |title=Digital Thread-Driven Proactive and Reactive Service Composition for Cloud Manufacturing |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9765669/ |journal=IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=2952–2962 |doi=10.1109/TII.2022.3171338 |bibcode=2023ITII...19.2952Y |s2cid=248458194 |issn=1551-3203}}</ref> This data can come from any part of [[Product lifecycle|product's lifecycle]], its transportation, or its [[supply chain]].<ref name=":2" /> Digital thread "enables the collection, transmission, and sharing of data and information between systems across the product lifecycle" to enable real-time decision making, gather data, and iterate on the product.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />

The term 'digital thread' was first used in the Global Horizons 2013 report by the USAF Global Science and Technology Vision Task Force.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=741377 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930134509/https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=741377 |archive-date=2021-09-30 |title=Global Horizons Final Report |last=USAF Global Science and Technology Vision |first=Task Force |website=[[Homeland Security Digital Library]] |url-status=unfit |access-date=2022-06-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Digital thread was further refined in 2018 by Singh and Willcox at MIT in their paper entitled "Engineering with a Digital Thread".<ref>{{Cite webjournal|url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J057255|title=Engineering with a Digital Thread|last=Singh|first=Victor|websitejournal=AerospaceAIAA ResourceJournal|date=November 2018 |volume=56 |issue=11 |pages=4515–4528 |doi=10.2514/1.J057255 |hdl=1721.1/114857 |osti=1611196 Central|access-date=2021-09-30|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In this academic paper the term digital thread is defined as "a data-driven architecture that links together information generated from across the product lifecycle and is envisioned to be the primary or authoritative data and communication platform for a company’s products at any instance of time."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Victor |last2=Willcox |first2=K. E. |title=Engineering Design with Digital Thread |journal=AIAA Journal |date=November 2018 |volume=56 |issue=11 |pages=4515–4528 |doi=10.2514/1.J057255 |bibcode=2018AIAAJ..56.4515S |hdl=1721.1/114857 |osti=1611196 |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J057255 |language=en |issn=0001-1452|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Digital thread enables "data to be integrated into one platform, allowing seamless use of and ease of access to all data".<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Pang |firstfirst1=Toh Yen |last2=Pelaez Restrepo |first2=Juan D. |last3=Cheng |first3=Chi-Tsun |last4=Yasin |first4=Alim |last5=Lim |first5=Hailey |last6=Miletic |first6=Miro |date=January 2021 |title=Developing a Digital Twin and Digital Thread Framework for an ‘Industry'Industry 4.0’0' Shipyard |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/3/1097 |journal=Applied Sciences |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=1097 |doi=10.3390/app11031097 |issn=2076-3417 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Applications ==

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[[Idaho National Laboratory|Idaho National Laboratories]] describes Digital Twin as "the merging of integrated and connected data, sensors and instrumentation, artificial intelligence, and online monitoring into a single cohesive unit."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cristopher |first=Ritter |date=July 28, 2023 |title=Lab Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Digital Twin Overview |url=https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2132/ML21326A185.pdf |access-date=July 28, 2023 |publisher=Digital Innovation Center of Excellence}}</ref>

It is a critical capability of [[model-based systems engineering]] (MBSE) and the foundation for a [[Digital twin]], which is defined as "a digital replica of a physical entity".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Aheleroff |firstfirst1=Shohin |last2=Xu |first2=Xun |last3=Zhong |first3=Ray Y. |last4=Lu |first4=Yuqian |date=January 2021 |title=Digital Twin as a Service (DTaaS) in Industry 4.0: An Architecture Reference Model |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1474034620301944 |journal=[[Advanced Engineering Informatics]] |language=en |volume=47 |pagesarticle-number=101225 |doi=10.1016/j.aei.2020.101225 |s2cid=230556710|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In fact, digital thread was first described as related to [[Digital twin]] in the Global Horizons 2013 report.<ref name=":0" /> Digital thread is a means to gather data for use in the development of a [[Digital twin]]; "some argue [digital thread] is the backbone of digital twin applications".<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Kwon |firstfirst1=Soonjo |last2=Monnier |first2=Laetitia V. |last3=Barbau |first3=Raphael |last4=Bernstein |first4=William Z. |date=October 2020 |title=Enriching standards-based digital thread by fusing as-designed and as-inspected data using knowledge graphs |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1474034620300719 |journal=[[Advanced Engineering Informatics]] |language=en |volume=46 |pagesarticle-number=101102 |doi=10.1016/j.aei.2020.101102 |s2cid=221613626|url-access=subscription }}</ref> "digital thread platforms can capture data from different systems, standardize it, and provide a seamless link between the physical process or product and the digital twin".<ref>{{Cite web |last=ahuff |date=2022-06-04 |title=How digital twins, IIoT technologies benefit operations |url=https://www.controleng.com/articles/how-digital-twins-iiot-technologies-benefit-operations/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Control Engineering |language=en-US}}</ref> The term digital thread is also used to describe the traceability of the [[digital twin]] back to the requirements, parts and control systems that make up the physical asset. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gardnerweb.com/articles/what-are-digital-twins-and-digital-threads|title=What Are Digital Twins and Digital Threads?|last=Gould|first=Lawrence S.|website=Automotive Design & Production|date=23 January 2018 |access-date=2021-07-27}}</ref>

Although digital thread and [[Digital twin]] are "every so often understood to be synonymous...they are not the same as Digital Twin relies on real-time data from its physical counterpart".<ref name=":3" /> "In short, digital thread describes the process while digital twin symbolizes technology".<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Daase |firstfirst1=Christian |last2=Haertel |first2=Christian |last3=Nahhas |first3=Abdulrahman |last4=Volk |first4=Matthias |last5=Steigerwald |first5=Heiko |last6=Ramesohl |first6=Achim |last7=Schneider |first7=Bernd |last8=Zeier |first8=Alexander |last9=Turowski |first9=Klaus |date=2023 |title=Following the Digital Thread – A Cloud-Based Observation |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877050922024723 |journal=Procedia Computer Science |language=en |volume=217 |pages=1867–1876 |doi=10.1016/j.procs.2022.12.387|s2cid=255929245 |doi-access=free }}</ref> "Compared to the digital twin, the digital thread can support decision-making by designing and regulating the data interaction and processing instead of high-fidelity system models".<ref name=":1" />

A digital thread enables a [[Digital twin]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=altair |date=2024-06-20 |title=How digital threads enable a new era of product development |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91142265/how-digital-threads-enable-a-new-era-of-product-development |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250219123819/https://www.fastcompany.com/91142265/how-digital-threads-enable-a-new-era-of-product-development |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=Fast Company |language=en-US}}</ref> by ensuring that incoming data is made uniform and easily accessible through the three main data chains:<ref name=":5" />

# '''The Product Innovation chain''' - Product designs, processes, and design flow are incorporated into the digital thread<ref name=":5" />