Digital Thread Maturity in Manufacturing: A Cross-Industry Study Using the Model-Based Enterprise Capability Assessment Framework

Abstract

Modern-day manufacturing organizations find themselves in volatile and competitive markets with increasing pressure to deliver products faster, at lower cost, and with increased quality. In response to this pressure, many organizations are considering how technological advancements may improve the efficiency of their product development operations. Leading organizations have digitally transformed their businesses by shifting away from manual processes, static documents, and siloed operations toward automation, model-based data, and interconnectivity enabled by a digital thread. Accordingly, organizations pursuing the competitive edge offered through the digitalization of their business operations have often used different assessment tools to benchmark their current capabilities and define their vision for the future of their organizational operations.

This thesis proposes a set of model-based and digital thread capabilities that are central to the long-term success of product development operations, along with a corresponding maturity model that may be used to identify gaps between current- and future-state capability implementation. Using the proposed capability maturity model, known as the Model-based Enterprise Capability Assessment Framework (MECAF), this study evaluated and compared capability maturity across various organizations in the Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, and Heavy Machinery industries. Through interviews with each participating organization, this thesis also explores the expected benefits, common challenges, and anticipated value of implementing model-based capabilities. Additionally, this thesis proposes an approach to bridging the gap from strategy to implementation based on the lessons learned and best practices of the organizations studied.