In Stay Sharp Episode 113, Extended Digital Threads and PLM Reality, co-hosts Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant welcome Martin Eigner, Doctor of Engineering, founder of the world’s first PDM/PLM company, and recognized thought-leader in the PLM community. The trio discuss Dr. Eigner’s perspective on PLM and the digital thread, how they relate to each other, and where they might be heading.
Defining Terms
Dr. Eigner begins by differentiating PLM systems from PLM the methodology, noting that the product lifecycle management approach covers everything from concept or requirement all the way through production, operation, and recycling, but a PLM system might not contain every piece of that information. What PLM systems manage is “all the items, the objects, used in a configuration, release, and change management process,” he says. The drawings, 3D models, functional descriptions, validation processes, MBOMs, tools, machines, and everything else related to production are what he terms configuration items.
An important point Dr, Eigner makes is that configuration items are not the digital thread, but components in it. This means the PLM system isn’t the digital thread either, though there’s plenty of overlap between them. Dr. Eigner instead sees the digital thread as something alongside PLM, not a container for all the data you need, but a pointer to it. “The idea of the digital thread is it’s a connector of all the configuration items,” he says. “The digital thread is the URL address. It’s an item number, item revision, item version, and maybe the name. Nothing else.”
So while a PLM system will contain many of the configuration items necessary for the digital thread, information like supply chain details or customer feedback may be housed elsewhere. “We can’t get it all in a PLM or don’t have it all in a PLM,” Jonathan says, “which is why we need an extended digital thread.” The extended digital thread is another important concept, as it encompasses all configuration items internally and externally, including data from partners and suppliers.
The trio touch on the question of where the digital thread lives—in a single system or in several—which comes down to the perennial question organizations face: do you choose one system that does a bit of everything or multiple best-of-breed systems that you have to connect? Currently, manufacturing organizations are taking both approaches, but Eigner points out a trend of prioritizing integration more than functionality. Jonathan agrees, “There may be higher value in the integrated process rather than a sort of best-of-breed specialized function.” A third option may arrive soon, Eigner says, mentioning a handful of PLM providers that are working on standalone digital thread systems.
The Future of PLM and the Digital Thread
Looking at the state of the marketplace today, Dr. Eigner’s gut feeling is that PLM offerings are missing overarching processes that will support typical engineering production processes. He also believes more work needs to be done to ease the bottleneck of the database, noting that only one provider is attempting to work with a graph database instead of a relational database. “For me, it’s funny,” he says. “You have the so-called cloud native solution, but … it’s only one database. It’s the bottleneck, so I think we have to push our solution providers to start a discussion. What is the appropriate type of future technology? I think they have to improve.”
Another challenge to digital thread implementation and acceptance is—unsurprisingly—the people, from the application engineers all the way up to the C-suite. Juliann notes the difficulty is often getting leadership to care about the true details of the digital transformation, including taking the opportunity of digitalization to reengineer their business processes. For that, Dr. Eigner suggests a Chief Digitalization Officer, whose job is to get rid of silos. “We need somebody who is overseeing the different silos and is able to create a concept which is overarching the organizational unit,” he says.
But Dr. Eigner believes that ultimately the multiple-system foundation of the digital thread will prevail. “We will never have one system,” he says. “We will have minimum five, six systems along the product lifecycle. The digital thread could be a modern technology … able to hide the siloed legacy system. That would be my dream and my solution.”
Learn More About Digital Thread Insights
The full podcast contains more discussion and details on a variety of topics, including the relatively small number of configuration items Dr. Eigner says exist in manufacturing companies, why a matrix organization structure may meet the need for leadership that cares about how the organization’s intellectual property is tied together, why the best functionality might not be the best choice for your organization, and more.
Be sure to check out Stay Sharp Episode 113: Extended Digital Threads and PLM Reality and join us each week for a new podcast.
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