PLM and the Digital Thread

The increasing interoperability of an organisation’s PLM system of systems affords productivity gains through the ability to share, synchronise and process data and information across the product lifecycle. This ensures a single-source-of-truth where the right data is made available at the right time to the right people and through the right mechanism. The result is better and more effective decision making. However, the sheer number of combinations and permutations of how product lifecycle data can be connected and integrated across PLM presents a considerable challenge in developing an appropriate solution architecture. Architecting solutions to this challenge is being called ‘The Digital Thread’ and in this chapter, we discuss its emergence, definition, taxonomy, benefits, technologies and practices, and how one might go about architecting a solution for an organisation.