As it is today, many of product lifecycle processes, from design, to process planning and engineering, manufacturing are siloed because different software tools, models and data representations are used, and often by many different teams across different organizations and geographic locations. To achieve the goals of smart manufacturing, these product lifecycle processes and manufacturing functions need to be connected and integrated to increase process automation, responsiveness and efficiency, and to reduce human errors. Furthermore, because of connected smart products, this lifecycle is now being extended beyond the four-wall of the factories, into customers’ operation environment. Digital thread refers to the communication framework for integrating production functions across the product chain and integrating product data for digital models. It does so by enabling data flow and integrated view of the product’s data throughout its lifecycle across different stages, from design, to manufacturing, and now to operation, and even to end-of-life and recycling of the product
Published in 2017
Publisher: Industrial IoT/Industrie 4.0 Viewpoints
https://industrial-iot.com/2017/09/iiot-smart-manufacturing-part-2-digital-thread-digital-twin/
Date added: 10/01/2017
Digital Twin Fourth Industrial Revolution