ANN ARBOR, MI, USA, Feb 8, 2024 – CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm, announces an upcoming free educational webinar, “The Value of Digital Threads and How to Build Out an Enterprise Digital Web.” This insightful webinar will take place on Thursday, 14 March 2024, at 11:00 a.m. (EST) and will last for one hour.

The Digital Thread has been a core element of the PLM vision for decades. The concept of linking multiple digital representations of a product, each tailored to meet the diverse needs of creators and consumers along the lifecycle, is powerful. Commercial PLM solutions have advanced to a point where the enablement of the Digital Thread is technically possible. But do these creator and consumer views lie neatly like beads along a single strand, or do some lie along the main strand while others are beads arranged in a web around one of the principal lifecycle views?

The Engineering Bill of Materials (eBOM) is one such principal lifecycle view. There are views of product intent from which it is created, views by which it is optimized, and other views by which it is realized and sustained. This webinar will describe the Digital Web of product views at the front end of the product lifecycle with the eBOM at its center. The architectural principles essential for designing this structure of views to enable collaboration between creators and consumers along the product lifecycle within an enterprise will be presented and discussed.

Attendees at this webinar will:

• Better understand the basic concept of a digital thread as the progression of product representations, or views, that are created and consumed along the product lifecycle.
• Learn about the different product representations relevant to the various creators and consumers along the lifecycle.
• Gain insights into the basic guidelines for designing the structure and content of these product lifecycle views to serve the needs of their creators and consumers.
• Comprehend how product lifecycle views are interrelated in a weblike configuration, with the engineering view (i.e., the eBOM) at its center.
• Understand how the structure, content, and relationships between views can be sophisticated or simple, depending on the needs of the business.

According to James Roche, CIMdata’s Director, Aerospace & Defense Practice and the host for this webinar, “With recent advances in commercial PLM solutions, enablement of the Digital Thread is now technically possible. The concept is vast and inspiring, and the value potential is real. Leaders in many industries are pursuing Digital Thread strategies, often without a clear vision, and in many instances within or alongside Digitalization, another vast and inspiring concept. Such initiatives are high risk. To be successful, Digital Thread initiatives must be pursued within a well thought out business-specific architectural framework.”

James Roche has 35+ years of experience in transformation and the IT enablement of product development and manufacturing processes. Before joining CIMdata, he was a PLM Practice Manager at CSC Consulting and A.T. Kearney. He was also at EDS, serving as the chief architect for General Motors’ global engineering systems and the head technical negotiator for strategic supplier contracts.

People from multiple levels of an organization will find the information in this webinar pertinent and valuable. Those with responsibility or interest in product program integration, systems engineering, PLM program planning, or, more generally, in digitalization or digital thread will benefit from attending.

During the webinar, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about the topics discussed. To find out more, visit: https://www.cimdata.com/en/education/educational-webinars/webinar-the-value-of-digital-threads-and-how-to-build-out-an-enterprise-digital-web. To register for this webinar, please visit https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/950895473122914912.