If the Digital Twin is an exact digital representation of the asset or the product right now in service, the Digital Thread captures the journey of how we got here.
It records how that model was transformed first into an 'as-designed' bill of materials, then into an 'as-built' and finally into an 'as-maintained' view of the product through a plethora of engineering issues and changes.
This means that if you get a problem out in the field on a particular serial number, you can trace the story back to the requirements that defined the affected part, machine or tag in the first place.
And this is hugely important not only because it's useful to know how you got to this point but also because when you are digesting huge amounts of IoT data unless you know its proper context you may erroneously apply that information to the wrong model, or the wrong revision of a particular design.
As a result you may not be able to properly assimilate performance data thereby undermining your ability to plan preventative maintenance. The data may also lead you to make erroneous decisions potentially creating safety and product liability issues.
And the risks only get worse with artificial intelligence where decisions may, in future, be automated.
In this context, many organisations are recognising the power of Aras Innovator to provide a modern, open, flexible and low-code PLM platform which enables them weave a digital thread between information silos and through the product lifecycle and power the digital twin.
But of course, not everyone has a PC or laptop with them all the time and so AESSiS are pleased to provide a range of web portals and native mobile apps for Aras Innovator created using the Mendix low-code development platforms and modern REST APIs.
These solutions complement and extend Aras Innovator applications into the field, connecting with customers, suppliers, service engineers and other employees on the move via simplified & stripped back user interfaces enabling joined up processes and completing the digital thread.
In fact, all our web portals and mobile apps can be easily tailored to your precise needs or to align to custom Aras applications and solutions thanks to our use of Mendix.
Furthermore our mobile applications for Aras Innovator are device & platform independent and deliver full access to all the native features of your device such as camera, location, and biometric security.
Finally they give highly mobile users of Aras Innovator the ability to work offline and then synchronise their information back to base later when they are online.
