Making The Digital Thread A Reality

InnovationMaking The Digital Thread A RealityByJohn Clemons,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 27, 2026, 07:45am EDTJohn Clemons is a Solution Consultant for Rockwell Automation. He's been working in the field of Manufacturing Technology for over 30 years. getty​From my observations, in the manufacturing industry, new technologies are powering human-centric collaboration across the value chain, from design and production to operations and beyond. ​​Agentic AI, wearable technologies and digital twins are examples of technologies that are changing how work is performed in the manufacturing industry—not by replacing people, but by amplifying their impact. However, I've found that many manufacturers are hard-pressed to apply these technological advances to connect data, systems and processes in ways that support people enterprise-wide.In my view, what enables people and these new technologies to work together effectively is the digital thread. At the foundation of the digital thread is data that is integrated, contextualized and organized. With the digital thread in place, siloed and static data give way to a continuous flow of information that connects products and processes across manufacturing and the enterprise.But the digital thread is not always easy to implement. Building on earlier articles that explored what the digital thread is, how it creates business value and the systems and technologies behind it, this article focuses on implementation challenges and how to overcome them.​CybersecurityAs manufacturers adopt new technologies and build a digital thread to enable more proactive operations, connectivity across systems increases cybersecurity exposure. Creating the digital thread requires integrating large volumes of data and moving that data across the enterprise. As this information is...