A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread

Collaborative Research Report

Survey Respondent Edition

Release 1.0

February 2023

AEROSPACE & DEFENSE PLM ACTION GROUP

A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Abstract
CIMdata, on behalf of the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG), has conducted a
collaborative research effort with multiple PLM solution providers to gain an understanding of
needs and opportunities within the industry on the topic of digital thread. The shared objective of
the participants was to align perspectives on the topic and have a meaningful impact on the
providers’ solution strategies and roadmaps. CIMdata was responsible for project management and
creation of project artifacts. The project used two methods to gather information: subject matter
expert (a.k.a. domain expert) interviews and an online survey. The primary information source for
analysis and reporting was the set of responses to the web-based survey. These responses represent
a broad community and, as answers to a set of closed-ended questions, lend themselves to
statistical analysis. The responses to each question are summarized in charts or graphs. At the end
of the report, CIMdata offers summary observations.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Table of Contents
Revision Record ...............................................................................................................................5
Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................................6
Significant Findings .................................................................................................................................................... 6
The What and Why of the Digital Thread .................................................................................................................................. 6
The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry ...................................................................................................................... 7
Planning Investment for Digital Thread Expansion in Industry ................................................................................................. 7
Solution Capability and Provider Alignment .............................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................8
Information Gathering ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Interviews .................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Web-Based Survey ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Analysis and Reporting............................................................................................................................................... 9
Respondent Demographics ..............................................................................................................9
The What and Why of the Digital Thread ........................................................................................11
The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry ............................................................................16
Current Value Footprint ........................................................................................................................................................... 17
Technology ............................................................................................................................................................................. 22
Self-Assessment ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Planning Investment for Digital Thread Expansion in Industry ........................................................27
Expanding Value Footprint ...................................................................................................................................................... 29
Solution Capability and Provider Alignment ....................................................................................33
Summary Observations ..................................................................................................................36
The What and Why of the Digital Thread.................................................................................................................. 36
The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry...................................................................................................... 36
Planning Investment for Digital Thread Expansion in Industry ................................................................................. 37
Solution Capability and Provider Alignment.............................................................................................................. 38
About The A&D PLM Action Group .................................................................................................39
About CIMdata ................................................................................................................................39
Appendix A: Partial List of Respondents’ Job Titles ........................................................................40
Appendix B: Use Case Descriptions ...............................................................................................42

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Table of Figures
Figure 1 — Survey Respondents' Role Titles (% of respondents) ................................................. 10
Figure 2 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Geographic Region ........................................ 10
Figure 3 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Company Revenue ........................................ 11
Figure 4 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Industry .......................................................... 11
Figure 5 — Source of Digital Thread Definition Commonly Agreed to Within Respondent's
Company (% of respondents) ........................................................................................................ 12
Figure 6 — Most Significant Characteristics that Describe What a Digital Thread Does (% of
respondents) .................................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 7 — Most Significant Characteristics that Describe What a Digital Thread Is (% of
respondents) .................................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 8 — Reasons for Digital Thread's Rise to Prominence (% of respondents) ........................ 15
Figure 9 — Business Issues Being Addressed with Digital Thread Efforts (% of respondents)...... 16
Figure 10 — Prevalence Digital Thread Implementations Currently in Place Within the Various
Product Lifecycle Stages (% of respondents) ................................................................................ 17
Figure 11 — Prevalence of Product Lifecycle Data Categories Currently Linked Together as a
Digital Thread (% of respondents) ................................................................................................. 18
Figure 12 — Prevalence of Digital Thread Use Cases Currently Implemented (% of respondents) 19
Figure 13 — Respondents' Assessment of the Importance of Various Use Cases for Achieving the
Digital Thread Vision within Their Companies (% of respondents)................................................. 20
Figure 14 — Extent of the User Community Currently Contributing to and Leveraging the
Respondents' Digital Thread Use Case Implementations (% of respondents) ............................... 21
Figure 15 — Technologies Used to Create and Consume Product Lifecycle Data in Respondents'
Currently Implemented Use Cases (% of respondents) ................................................................. 22
Figure 16 — Technologies Used to Link Product Lifecycle Data in Respondents’ Currently
Implemented Use Cases (% of respondents)................................................................................. 23
Figure 17 — Implementation Configurations of Respondents' Current Digital Thread Solutions (%
of respondents) .............................................................................................................................. 23

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Figure 18 — Self-Assessment of Digital Thread Maturity within Respondents' Companies (% of

respondents) .................................................................................................................................. 24
Figure 19 — Principal Inhibitors to Formulating and Executing a Digital Strategy within
Respondents' Companies (% of respondents) ............................................................................... 25
Figure 20 — Respondents’ Proposed Means for Mitigation of Inhibitors to Formulating and
Executing a Digital Strategy within Their Companies (% of respondents) ...................................... 26
Figure 21 — Pain Points Respondents will be Targeting in Future Digital Thread Implementations
(% of respondents) ........................................................................................................................ 27
Figure 22 — New Value Opportunities Respondents will be Targeting in Future Digital Thread
Implementations (% of respondents) ............................................................................................. 28
Figure 23 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Current Digital Thread Implementations Within and
Across Lifecycle Phases Over Time (% of respondents) ............................................................... 29
Figure 24 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Current Linkages Within and Across Product Lifecycle
Data Categories Over Time (% of respondents) ............................................................................ 30
Figure 25 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Implementation of Use Cases for Digital Thread Over
Time (% 0f respondents) ................................................................................................................ 31
Figure 26 — Respondents' Vision for Expansion of Community Involvement as They Pursue Their
Companies' Digital Thread Plans (% of respondents) .................................................................... 32
Figure 27 — Notable Examples of Gaps in Capabilities Offered by Respondents' Chosen PLM
Solution Providers (% of respondents) ........................................................................................... 33
Figure 28 — Degree of Alignment of Perspectives and Strategies for Digital Thread Investment
Between Respondents and Their Chosen PLM Solution Providers (% of respondents) ................ 34
Figure 29 — Notable Examples of Alignment or Misalignment Between Respondents and Their
Chosen PLM Solution Providers (% of respondents) ..................................................................... 35

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Revision Record
Revision Date Description
1.0 February 2023 Initial Release of the A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread
Collaborative Research Report, Survey Respondent Edition,
which is based on a detailed online survey

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

A&D PLM Action Group Digital

Thread Collaborative Research Report
Executive Summary
This report presents the results, analysis, and summary observations from a research effort on the
topic of digital thread conducted by CIMdata on behalf of the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action
Group (AD PAG) in collaboration with multiple PLM solution providers. For this research effort,
CIMdata and the AD PAG partnered with Aras, Eurostep, Jama Software, PTC, and Siemens
Digital Industries Software, all solution providers committed to addressing the digital thread
challenges of industrial companies.
The project used two methods to gather information: subject matter expert (SME) interviews and
an online survey. Interviews were conducted by CIMdata with three communities: the participating
PLM solution providers, key A&D customers nominated by the participating solution providers,
and the AD PAG member companies. The second method of information gathering was through a
web-based survey targeted toward a broader community of PLM practitioners in industry. The
learnings from the interviews were applied to develop the line of inquiry in the web-based survey.
A total of 90 complete and validated survey responses were received and have been analyzed. The
survey was open to all industries, but it was targeted toward and most heavily promoted within
aerospace and defense and nearly 60% of responses were from that industry. Review of the names
of companies represented and the positions held by the interviewees and survey respondents
confirms that the information received is representative of the most influential companies and
leading thinkers within the aerospace and defense industry.

Significant Findings
The following key findings were derived from analyzing the interview and survey results:
• CIMdata’s analysis clearly indicates that digital thread investment within the ecosystem of
industrial users, their customers, suppliers, and solution providers is poised for rapid
growth. Initial implementations of targeted digital thread solutions have provided proof
points of value and essential learnings. New rounds of investment are ramping up, guided
by these early achievements and with expectations driven by the value potential revealed.
The What and Why of the Digital Thread
• The conceptual understanding of digital thread within industry is very immature. Nearly half
of companies surveyed do not have a commonly accepted definition of digital thread.
However, there is a broadly shared perception of what a digital thread does and what a
digital thread is. The most prominent characteristics of what a digital thread is and what it
does relate to “establishing traceability of product information.”

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry

• As would be expected, digital thread implementations are most prevalent in the Concept and
Development product lifecycle stages. They are also significant in Production but are rare in
later lifecycle stages of Utilization, Support and Retirement.
• The most prevalent digital thread linkages currently are between design-related data
categories, i.e., needs and requirements data, mechanical design data, electrical/electronic
design data, software design data, and engineering bill of materials (BOM) data.
• The most striking indicator that digital thread investment is in its very early days is the
contrast between importance assigned to digital thread use cases and the prevalence of
current implementations. For example, lifecycle BOM management is considered essential
by 62% and important by 26% of respondents but is currently implemented as a digital
thread within only 25% of respondents’ companies.
• The technologies used to link product lifecycle data segregate into three tiers. The top tier,
which has the longest history, includes PLM and PDM, followed by ERP and custom
applications. The middle tier consists of application and data integration tools. These are
followed by newer specialty technologies for combining data from multiple sources and
establishing linkages and traceability. We can expect the ranking of these specialty
technologies to rise significantly over the next few years.
• Respondents’ self-assessment of the maturity of the digital thread within their companies is
very good news for solution providers. A majority of respondents assigned a rating of
mature or industry-leading to their company’s vision and level of planning and funding.
This suggests that they are ready to invest in implementations which the majority rate as
immature.
• For the respondents, the number 1 inhibitor to formulating and executing a digital thread
strategy is “lack of interoperability between different vendors’ tools and systems.” The
number 1 proposed means for mitigation is to “increase support of standards,” which is
followed closely by “increase management support.”
Planning Investment for Digital Thread Expansion in Industry
• The top six pain points being targeted in future implementations all relate to accessibility
and traceability across data elements, especially traceability of requirements throughout the
product lifecycle.
• Systems engineering was featured prominently in many responses, including ranking as the
top new value opportunity being targeted in future digital thread implementations.
• Investment, which has been concentrated in the Concept and Development product lifecycle
stages, will shift in the near term to Development and Production while ramping up
significantly in the later lifecycle stages. In the longer term, investment will shift
substantially to the later lifecycle stages.
• It is notable that in the near term the heavy investment emphasis is in three areas:
− Systems engineering, design optimization, validation, and traceability
− Lifecycle BOM management and change impact assessment

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− Manufacturing engineering
Solution Capability and Provider Alignment
• Respondents were split on the question of whether their chosen PLM solution providers are
aligned with their perspectives and strategies for digital thread investment, with the majority
feeling that they are moderately or well aligned. A significant minority felt there were some
or major gaps.

Introduction
CIMdata, on behalf of the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG), has conducted a
collaborative research effort with multiple PLM solution providers to gain an understanding of
needs and opportunities within the industry on the topic of digital thread. The shared objective of
the participants was to align perspectives on the topic and have a meaningful impact on the
providers’ solution strategies and roadmaps. CIMdata was responsible for project management and
creation of the project artifacts.
Since its founding in 2014, the CIMdata-administered AD PAG has sponsored research and jointly
staffed projects on topics such as Model-Based Definition, Multiple-View Bill of Materials, PLM
Technology Obsolescence Management, Global Collaboration, Model-Based Systems
Engineering, and Digital Twin/Digital Thread. The members regularly interact with the principal
PLM solution providers in project collaborations and executive-level strategic discussions. Current
AD PAG membership includes Airbus, Boeing, GE Aerospace, Gulfstream, Pratt & Whitney,
Rolls-Royce, and Safran.
The Group’s leadership recently decided to expand its reach into the PLM solution provider
community and engage in collaborative research and dialogue on strategic topics. For this research
effort, CIMdata and the AD PAG partnered with Aras, Eurostep, Jama Software, PTC, and
Siemens Digital Industries Software, all solution providers committed to addressing the digital
thread challenges of industrial companies.

Information Gathering
The project used two methods to gather information: subject matter expert (SME) interviews and
an online survey.
Interviews
CIMdata conducted interviews with three communities: participating PLM solution providers, key
A&D customers nominated by the participating solution providers, and the AD PAG member
companies.
Web-Based Survey
The second method of information gathering was through a web-based survey targeted toward a
broader community of PLM practitioners in industry. CIMdata developed the survey based on
initial findings from the SME interviews and promoted it through their usual channels, e.g., a press
release, Webinar, social media promotion, targeted emailings, etc. Each research sponsor was
given a survey that duplicated the CIMdata survey questions for promotion using their own internal

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processes and methods. This was to help increase the number of industrial responses and ensure
the data and results would be representative of the overall population of interest to the sponsors.
The learnings from the interviews were applied to develop the line of inquiry in the web-based
survey. The line of questioning was similar, but whereas the interview questionnaire was open-
ended, those questions were converted to closed-ended pick lists for the survey. The pick list
choices were derived primarily from the interview responses. The richness of inquiry achieved in
the interviews could not be replicated in the online survey, but the questions were crafted based
on the interview results to provide useful insights into current state and future trends across a
broader industrial community.

Analysis and Reporting

The primary information source for analysis and reporting is the set of responses to the web-based
survey. These responses represent a broad community and, as answers to a set of closed-ended
questions, lend themselves to statistical analysis.
The sections that follow summarize the responses to each question in charts or graphs.
At the end of the report, CIMdata offers summary observations.
CIMdata created this report for distribution to those who participated in the web-based survey.

Respondent Demographics
A total of 90 complete and validated online survey responses were received and analyzed.
The survey was intentionally designed to be a challenge for the respondent. Answering the
questions required a deep understanding of the current status and future plans for digital thread
realization within the respondent’s company. The average time to complete the survey was
approximately 30 minutes. Consequently, it is fair to assume that only those with a serious interest
in the topic of digital thread would invest the time and effort needed to complete the survey. This
hypothesis may be confirmed by reviewing the respondents’ self-selected role titles as shown in
Figure 1 and by reviewing the respondent’s job titles, which we were able to research based on the
names and email addresses provided. 1

1 A partial list of respondents’ job titles is provided in Appendix A.

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Figure 1 — Survey Respondents' Role Titles (% of respondents)

Respondents were almost exclusively from North America and EMEA, and evenly distributed
across small, medium, and large revenue enterprises as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Figure 2 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Geographic Region

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Figure 3 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Company Revenue

While the survey was open to all industries, it was targeted toward and most heavily promoted
within aerospace and defense. Consequently, nearly 60% of responses were from that industry. As
shown in Figure 4, a total of 55 individuals from 46 A&D companies responded to the survey, and
those companies included 15 of the Top 50 and 7 of the Top 10 in the global A&D industry.

Figure 4 — Distribution of Survey Respondents by Industry

The What and Why of the Digital Thread

The first positioning question asked was “Does your organization have a commonly agreed-to
definition of the digital thread?” Reviewing Figure 5, one may be surprised that nearly half of

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respondents do not have an agreed to definition within their company, or that slightly more than
half do.

Figure 5 — Source of Digital Thread Definition Commonly Agreed to Within Respondent's Company (% of respondents)

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Respondents were then asked to choose the most significant characteristics that describe what the
digital thread does. Their selections are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 — Most Significant Characteristics that Describe What a Digital Thread Does (% of respondents)

Traceability of product information across multiple domains, the combination of the first two
responses, is core to many digital thread definitions.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Respondents were then asked to choose the most significant characteristics that describe what the
digital thread is. Their selections are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 — Most Significant Characteristics that Describe What a Digital Thread Is (% of respondents)

In this second question, respondents are again focused on traceability but they are also seeking
some level of interoperability between the data as part of the thread.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

The digital thread has risen dramatically in prominence over the last 3 to 5 years. Respondents
were asked what has changed over that period to elevate interest in digital thread within their
company. Results are shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 — Reasons for Digital Thread's Rise to Prominence (% of respondents)

This suggests that some are being pushed by external forces, like the US DoD and other
regulating agencies, but are also responding to market trends, like product complexity and the
enhanced capabilities being offered by solution providers.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry

The inquiry into current state began by asking what critical business issues respondents are trying
to address with their digital thread efforts. Results are shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9 — Business Issues Being Addressed with Digital Thread Efforts (% of respondents)

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Current Value Footprint

Respondents were asked a series of questions to define the extent of their current digital thread
implementation(s) along several dimensions.
Respondents were asked within which product lifecycle stages are digital thread implementations
currently in place. Results are shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10 — Prevalence Digital Thread Implementations Currently in Place Within the Various Product Lifecycle Stages
(% of respondents)

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Respondents were asked which product lifecycle data categories are linked together as a digital
thread in their company today. Results are shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11 — Prevalence of Product Lifecycle Data Categories Currently Linked Together as a Digital Thread (% of
respondents)

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Respondents were asked which use cases for digital thread are implemented in their company
today. Results are shown in the following figure. 2

Figure 12 — Prevalence of Digital Thread Use Cases Currently Implemented (% of respondents)

2 Use case descriptions are provided in Appendix B.

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Respondents were asked for their opinion as to the importance of various use cases for achieving
the digital thread vision within their company. Results are shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13 — Respondents' Assessment of the Importance of Various Use Cases for Achieving the Digital Thread Vision
within Their Companies (% of respondents)

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Respondents were asked to describe the extent of the user community that is currently contributing
to and leveraging their digital thread use case implementations. Results are shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14 — Extent of the User Community Currently Contributing to and Leveraging the Respondents' Digital Thread
Use Case Implementations (% of respondents)

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Technology
Respondents were asked three questions about the technologies used to enable the digital thread
use cases that are currently implemented within their company.
First, they were asked what technologies are used to create and consume product lifecycle data in
these use cases. Results are shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15 — Technologies Used to Create and Consume Product Lifecycle Data in Respondents' Currently Implemented
Use Cases (% of respondents)

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Then, they were asked what technologies are used to link product lifecycle data in these use cases.
Results are shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16 — Technologies Used to Link Product Lifecycle Data in Respondents’ Currently Implemented Use Cases (% of
respondents)

Respondents were asked how they are implementing digital thread solution(s) to support the full
product lifecycle. Results are shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17 — Implementation Configurations of Respondents' Current Digital Thread Solutions (% of respondents)

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Self-Assessment
Through a series of questions respondents were asked to assess their positioning for successful
pursuit of a digital thread strategy.
Respondents’ assessment of the maturity of the digital thread strategy realization within their
company is shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18 — Self-Assessment of Digital Thread Maturity within Respondents' Companies (% of respondents)

Respondents were asked if they have metrics in place to track the effectiveness of their digital
thread strategy, and those who responded “yes” were asked to provide a brief description. A
representative sample of responses is provided below.
• Number of systems integrated in the digital thread
• Number of data elements in a central data model enabled for the digital thread
• Number of data elements enabled for the digital thread
• In some areas later in the development phase with focus on documentation
• Highly variable based on mission. Generally, time to market, first time quality, manufacturing cost /
realized learning curve, and sustainment costs are the most prominent metrics.
• We aim for more than pockets of excellence, but digital thread consistency being measured against
strategic programs
− Tracking user adoption of rapid standup metrics of IDEs (Integrated Digital Environments) that
manifest our Digital Thread strategy through integration of ASoTs (Authoritative Sources of
Truth)
− Degrees of separation between lifecycle elements
− As Planned / As Released Baseline integrity and traceability to primary and secondary items
• Impact Analyze
• Considering traceability - is it enough to support a decision?
• Product quality (physical prototypes compared to virtual simulations results)
• Partly KPI´s based on single use cases only

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• We have KPIs per system to include more aircraft in the scope of the digital thread.
Some respondents provided insight as to how they develop metrics.
• Firstly, we analyze our business maps, we create value streams about workflows. After that, we
detect some steps without digital platforms such as PDM, ERP, MES systems. We think how to
implement the steps into digital systems.
• Our metrics for digital thread are wrapped up within the implementation progress of next generation
PLM capabilities. The PLM is growing to accommodate the requirements of digital thread linkages.
• We would track Digital Thread metrics as part of our overall model and data governance approach.

Respondents were asked to list and characterize the principal inhibitors to formulating and
executing a digital thread strategy within their company. Results are shown in Figure 19. Inhibitors
are listed in order of decreasing significance.

Figure 19 — Principal Inhibitors to Formulating and Executing a Digital Strategy within Respondents' Companies (% of
respondents)

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Respondents were then asked to propose potential means for mitigation of the “Most Significant
Inhibitor”. Results are shown in Figure 20.

Figure 20 — Respondents’ Proposed Means for Mitigation of Inhibitors to Formulating and Executing a Digital Strategy
within Their Companies (% of respondents)

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Planning Investment for Digital Thread

Expansion in Industry
The project team was also interested in the pain points our respondents are targeting in future
digital thread implementations within their company. Results are shown in Figure 21.

Figure 21 — Pain Points Respondents will be Targeting in Future Digital Thread Implementations (% of respondents)

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Respondents were asked what new value opportunities they are targeting in future digital thread
implementations within their company. Results are shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22 — New Value Opportunities Respondents will be Targeting in Future Digital Thread Implementations (% of
respondents)

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Expanding Value Footprint

Respondents were asked a series of questions to define their plans for expanding their current
digital thread implementation(s) along several dimensions.
Respondents were asked how they plan to expand their digital thread implementations currently in
place within and across lifecycle phases over time. Results are shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Current Digital Thread Implementations Within and Across Lifecycle Phases
Over Time (% of respondents)

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Respondents were asked how they plan to expand linkages currently in place within and across
product lifecycle data categories over time. Results are shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Current Linkages Within and Across Product Lifecycle Data Categories Over
Time (% of respondents)

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Respondents were asked how they plan to expand implementation of use cases for digital thread
in their company over time. Results are shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25 — Respondents' Plans to Expand Implementation of Use Cases for Digital Thread Over Time (% 0f
respondents)

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Respondents were asked how they envision the extent of community involvement increasing as
they pursue their company’s digital thread plans. Results are shown in Figure 26.

Figure 26 — Respondents' Vision for Expansion of Community Involvement as They Pursue Their Companies' Digital
Thread Plans (% of respondents)

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Solution Capability and Provider Alignment

As was done in other subject areas, survey questions were crafted with pick lists derived from the
interviews.
Respondents were provided with a list of choices and asked to indicate any notable examples of
gaps in capabilities offered by their chosen solution providers. Results are shown in Figure 27.

Figure 27 — Notable Examples of Gaps in Capabilities Offered by Respondents' Chosen PLM Solution Providers (% of
respondents)

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Respondents were asked how well their perspectives and strategies for digital thread investment
are aligned with those of their chosen PLM solution providers. Results are shown in Figure 28.

Figure 28 — Degree of Alignment of Perspectives and Strategies for Digital Thread Investment Between Respondents and
Their Chosen PLM Solution Providers (% of respondents)

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Respondents were provided a list of choices and asked to indicate any notable examples of
alignment or misalignment between their company and their chosen solution providers. Results
are shown in Figure 29.

Figure 29 — Notable Examples of Alignment or Misalignment Between Respondents and Their Chosen PLM Solution
Providers (% of respondents)

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Summary Observations
The following key takeaways can be derived from the analysis of the interview and survey results:
• CIMdata’s analysis clearly indicates that digital thread investment within the ecosystem of
industrial users, their customers, suppliers, and solution providers has reached an inflection
point. Initial implementations of targeted digital thread solutions have provided proof points
of value and essential learnings. New rounds of investment are ramping up, guided by these
early achievements and with expectations driven by the value potential revealed.
• Review of the companies represented, and the positions held by the interviewees and survey
respondents confirms that the information received is representative of the most influential
companies and leading thinkers within the aerospace and defense industry.

The What and Why of the Digital Thread

• Nearly half of companies surveyed do not have a commonly accepted definition of digital
thread. Less than 10% use a published definition. This suggests that the conceptual
understanding of digital thread within industry is very immature.
• Though there may not be a consistent and widely accepted definition of digital thread, there
is a broadly shared perception of what a digital thread does and what a digital thread is.
• The most prominent characteristics of what a digital thread does are “establishes traceability
of product information” (75%) “across multiple domains in the lifecycle (mechanical, E/E,
software and firmware)” (50%).
• The most prominent characteristics of what a digital thread is are “linkage and traceability
between data elements at the meta-data level” (70%), “interoperability between data
elements for interpretation of one by the other” (45%) and “combination of data model and
technologies that facilitate the data model” (45%).
• The main reasons for the digital thread’s rise to prominence are “product complexity has
continued to increase substantially” (58%), “rising customer expectations, e.g., a desire to
deploy digital twins” (46%), “new enabling technologies have emerged” (43%), and
“emphasis on time to market and the search for efficiencies” (42%).

The Current Reality of Digital Thread in Industry

• Improving efficiency (65%), product quality (56%) and time to market (43%) are critical
business goals driving digital thread efforts, but number 1 is “reducing risk and errors in
product development with better traceability” (68%).
• As would be expected, digital thread implementations are most prevalent in the concept
(46%) and development (38%) lifecycle stages. They are also significant in production
(24%) but are rare (10% or less) in later lifecycle stages.
• Currently, the most prevalent digital thread linkages are between design-related data
categories, i.e., needs and requirements data (38%), mechanical design data (54%), E/E
design data (39%), software design data (32%), and engineering bill of materials data
(56%).

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

• The prevalence of current digital thread use case implementations is surprisingly low.
• The importance assigned to digital thread use cases is surprisingly broad and high.
• The most striking indicator that digital thread investment is in very early days is the contrast
between importance assigned to digital thread use cases and the prevalence of current
implementations. For example, lifecycle BOM management is considered essential by 62%
and important by 26% of respondents but is currently implemented within only 25% of
respondents’ companies.
• Not surprisingly, the user communities contributing to and leveraging current digital thread
implementations are primarily Engineering and Manufacturing and to a lesser but still
significant degree Program Management and Service.
• A wide variety of application systems are used to create and consume product lifecycle data.
Number 1 is PLM and PDM (84%), followed by MCAD (75%) and ERP (72%).
• The technologies used to link product lifecycle data segregate into three tiers. The top tier,
which has the longest history, includes PLM and PDM (80%), followed by ERP (68%), and
custom applications (52%). The middle tier consists of application and data integration
tools. These are followed by the third tier of newer specialty technologies for combining
data from multiple sources and establishing linkages and traceability. We can expect the
ranking of these specialty technologies to rise significantly over the next few years.
• Respondents’ self-assessment of the maturity of the digital thread within their companies is
very good news for solution providers. A majority of respondents assigned a rating of
mature or industry leading to their company’s vision (64%) and level of planning and
funding (56%). This suggests that they are ready to invest in implementations which the
majority rate as immature (62%).
• Most respondents struggle with metrics to track the effectiveness of their digital thread
strategy. Those who have metrics focus on the number of systems or the number of data
elements integrated within the digital thread. A few are focused on number of links and
traceability between data elements.
• The number 1 inhibitor to formulating and executing a digital thread strategy is “lack of
interoperability between different vendors’ tools and systems.” The number 1 proposed
means for mitigation is to “increase support of standards”, which was followed closely by
“increase management support.”

Planning Investment for Digital Thread Expansion in Industry

• All Top 6 pain points being targeted in future implementations relate to accessibility and
traceability across data elements, especially traceability of requirements throughout the
product data lifecycle.
• Systems engineering is featured prominently in many responses, including ranking as the
top new value opportunity being targeted in future digital thread implementations.
• Investment, which has been concentrated in the Concept and Development lifecycle stages,
will shift in the near term to Development and Production, while ramping up in the later

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lifecycle stages. In the longer term, investment will shift substantially to the later lifecycle
stages.
• From the data perspective, investment, which has been concentrated on establishing
linkages between design-related data categories, will in the near term be more broadly
dispersed across the product lifecycle. In the longer term, investment will shift toward
linking data within and between categories associated with the later lifecycle stages.
• Investment in use case implementations will follow a similar pattern as investment in
lifecycle stages and in data linkages, increasing in intensity and broadening in the near term,
and then decreasing in intensity and shifting to the later lifecycle stages in the longer term.
• It is notable that in the near term there is a heavy investment emphasis in three areas:
− Systems engineering, design optimization, validation, and traceability
− Lifecycle BOM management and change impact assessment
− Manufacturing engineering
Solution Capability and Provider Alignment
• The survey respondents’ top capabilities gap was “integrations and openness are required to
connect a PLM to the broader digital ecosystem (CRM, ERP, PPM, etc.).
• Respondents were split on the question of whether their solution providers are aligned with
their perspectives and strategies for digital thread investment, with the majority (60%)
feeling they are moderately or well aligned. A significant minority (40%) felt there were
some or major gaps.
• Of the Top 5 examples of misalignment between respondents and their chosen solution
provider, three relate to lack of openness.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

About The A&D PLM Action Group

The Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (www.ad-pag.com) is an association of aerospace
and defense companies within CIMdata’s globally recognized Community Program, which
functions as a PLM advocacy group to:
• Set the direction for the aerospace & defense industry on PLM-related topics that matter to
members (including promoting, not duplicating, the work of standards bodies)
• Promote common industry PLM processes and practices
• Define requirements for common interest PLM-related capabilities
• Communicate with a unified voice to PLM solution providers
• Sponsor collaborative PLM research on prioritized industry and technology topics

CIMdata administers Group operations, coordinates research, and manages the progression of
policy formulation.

About CIMdata
CIMdata, an independent worldwide firm, provides strategic management consulting to maximize
an enterprise’s ability to design and deliver innovative products and services through the
application of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). CIMdata provides world-class knowledge,
expertise, and best-practice methods on PLM. CIMdata also offers research, subscription services,
publications, and education through international conferences. To learn more about CIMdata’s
services, visit our website at http://www.CIMdata.com or contact CIMdata at: 3909 Research Park
Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA. Tel: +1 734.668.9922. Fax: +1 734.668.1957; or at Oogststraat
20, 6004 CV Weert, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0) 495.533.666.

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Appendix A: Partial List of Respondents’ Job

Titles
For those survey respondents who provided their name and corporate email address, we searched
CIMdata’s customer relationship management (CRM) database and LinkedIn to learn their job
title. Those job titles are listed below.
A&D Industry Consulting Director
A&D PLM Strategist & Architect
Aerospace Engineer, Human Factors Researcher, Safety and Certification Specialist
Applications Analyst Senior Staff
Associate Director, Engineering Systems
Business Analyst
Business Development Manager and AI Expert
CAD & PLM Team Leader
CEO
Chief Architect
Chief Engineer, Virtual Systems
Chief Engineer, Consulting & Systems Engineering
Consultant
COO
Digital Enterprise Transformation Architect
Digital Manufacturing Capability Lead
Director- Industry advisor - Manufacturing & Supply Chain - EMEA
Director IT Business Partner
Director, Business Development (Co-founder)
Director, Corporate PLM
Domain Consultant - New Product Innovation (NPI), Innovation & Transformation
Group
Engineer
Engineering Design Systems (EDS) Regional Manager
Engineering Manager
Engineering Manager BOM & Configuration Management Product Development &
Global Technology
Engineering PLM Deployment Manager
Head of Competence Center PLM+
Head of Digital PLM
Industrial Modelling and Simulations Senior Technologist
Instructor
Integration Product Line Manager
IT Architect Engineering IT
IT Enterprise Architect Engineering
IT Manager
Lead Engineer
Lead Engineer - MCAE Applications
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Manager - Model-Based Engineering

Manager of Engineering Product Services
MBE Domain Advocate, Advanced Systems Digital Transformation Initiative
ME - Technical Fellow
Mechanical Engineer & Project Manager
PLM and Configuration Engineer
PLM Integration Engineer
PLM Program Manager, IT
PLM Systems Engineer, PLM COE, Engineering Processes and Tools
PLM Systems Manager
President
President & CEO
Principal Engineering Specialist (PES), Data & Configuration Management
Principal R&D engineer
Process & Systems Analysis Lead
Process Lead
Product Lifecycle Management Manager
Product Manager
Product Owner | Strategy Lead, R&D Digital
Program Manager, enterprise Product Lifecycle Management Integrated Decision
Environment
Project Manager
Research Engineer
Senior Director, Technical Product Management
Senior ECO Specialist
Senior Enterprise Architect
Senior Manager, Architecture Integration & Interoperability Standards
Senior Manager, Software Engineering
Senior Manager, Systems Engineering
Senior Product Owner Engineering and Simulation
Senior Project Manager and SME and Architect
Senior Propulsion Manager
Senior Systems Engineer
Sr. Business Engineer, Associate Technical Fellow
Sr. CAx Systems Engineer
Sr. Manager, COE PLM Solutions
Systems Product Development Engineer
Technical Fellow, PLM
Technical Lead
Technical Product Owner
Technical Strategy Lead
Vice President, Intelligent Systems Engineering

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A&D PLM Action Group Digital Thread Collaborative Research Report

Appendix B: Use Case Descriptions

Each of the use cases offered as pick list items in the online survey is described in the table below.

Use Case
Title Description
Conceptual Design Ensure reuse of pre-contract award work for post-
Traceability to Detailed contract award development
Design
Design Optimization and Closed-loop requirements linking and tracing through
Validation design, implementation, and testing

Cross-Discipline Engineering Design coordination and integration of mechanical,

electrical, electronics and embedded software product
content
Cross-Discipline Traceability Dynamic tracking of traceability across managed lifecycle
content
Model-Based Systems Modeling, simulation, and virtual analysis at all stages of
Engineering the RFLP
Model-Based Enterprise Enable the enterprise to interact with rich engineering
deliverables, validate products before going into
production, and improve design review efficiency
Lifecycle BOM Management Complete highly visual product definition driven from
CAD and other descriptive artifacts for comprehensive
configuration management across the lifecycle
Change Impact Assessment Traceability between interrelated digital and physical
assets to assess cost and lead time impact of change and
to mitigate compounding risks of change on change
Supply Chain Collaboration Co-design connectivity across the supply chain for both
product and production
Manufacturing Engineering Derive plant specific mBOMs from eBOMs; derive process
plans and work instructions based on upstream eBOM
Manufacturing Execution Deliver work instructions based directly on digital thread
from mBOM down to the shop floor
Service & Customer Develop technical documentation based directly on digital
Documentation thread content

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Use Case
Title Description
Interactive Production and Interact with products based on augmented reality using
Maintenance models and technical documentation
Condition-Based and Traceable linkages that aggregate sensor data, artificial
Predictive Maintenance with intelligence models, and physics-based reliability models
Feedback Loops to aid in proactive maintenance and sustainment work
Design Rationale Traceability Traceability of design rationale from early conceptual
for Sustainment Decisions architecture through in-field sustainment

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