MESA Smart Manufacturing Community: Digital Thread/Digital Twin

Description

Come share your experiences, stories, questions, and what you have learned in a safe, non-commercial environment. We seek to understand the state-of-the market, understand what companies have done that has or has not worked, documenting questions that MESA and the community can help answer. Overall, the goal is to accelerate each participant’s learning and progress toward Smart Manufacturing. 

Topic: What Integrations Are Required For Effective Digital Twin / Digital Thread Solutions Effective Digital Twin and Digital Thread solutions require seamless integration across a range of systems, including real-time equipment and sensor data, MES, ERP, PLM, LIMS, and other IT/OT platforms. This discussion will explore the key technical and organizational integrations needed to enable data contextualization, semantic modeling, and secure, scalable data exchange. Emphasis will be placed on industry standards (e.g., OPC UA, ISA-95), best practices, and real-world use cases that highlight how these integrations drive operational efficiency, predictive insights, and long-term value across manufacturing and life sciences environments.

Learn from each other as we discuss:

• What are the biggest challenges you've encountered when integrating IT and OT systems to support Digital Twin and Digital Thread initiatives—and how have you addressed them?
• How do you prioritize which systems (e.g., MES, ERP, LIMS, PLM) to integrate first when building out a Digital Thread across an enterprise?
• In your experience, what role do data standards and semantic models (e.g., OPC UA, ISA-95, Allotrope, etc.) play in enabling true interoperability and scalability across systems?
• Can you share a real-world use case where effective integration significantly improved operational outcomes or decision-making through a Digital Twin or Digital Thread implementation?
• What cultural or organizational shifts are necessary to support the technical integration required for Digital Twin/Thread solutions, and how do you manage cross-functional alignment?

Agenda: 

• Thanks to our Sponsor(s) 
• Facilitator introduction 
• Community & Group overview – why participate and what to expect 
• Smart Manufacturing Paradigm 
• Thanks to our Sponsor(s) 
• Summary of last meeting 
• Today's subject 
• Wrap up 
• Next meeting 
• How to keep the conversation going 
• Thanks

The Community meets every two weeks via virtual facilitated meetings. The Community is a benefit of MESA membership. Members automatically receive the Zoom link/invitation. Not a member? Join today! 

Learn more about MESA's Smart Manufacturing Community Groups.

Smart Manufacturing Community Sponsor: