Introduction
For decades, engineering has used digital tools (like CAD or Excel), but the processes remained largely fragmented in “silos.” Digital Engineering is a fundamental shift that moves the industry from a document-centric approach to a model-centric approach.
It is the practice of using digital integrated apects of design, build, and support to create a seamless “Digital Thread.” In a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) ecosystem, Digital Engineering ensures that data created in the conceptual phase remains “alive” and actionable through manufacturing, operations, and even retirement.
The 5 Pillars of Digital Engineering
According to the modern industrial standard (often cited by the DoD and top-tier aerospace firms), Digital Engineering is built on five strategic pillars:
1. Model-Based Everything (MBx)
Moving away from static documents to dynamic models. This includes Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), which uses models to define requirements and architectures instead of massive text manuals.
2. The Digital Thread
The communication framework that allows data to flow seamlessly between disparate systems (from Requirements to CAD to Testing to Supply Chain). It ensures everyone is working with the “Single Source of Truth.”
3. The Digital Twin
A virtual representation of a physical product that is updated with real-time data. Digital Engineering creates the “Digital Twin” during the design phase so it can be used to predict performance in the real world.
4. Advanced Environments and Tools
Using cloud computing, AI, and collaborative platforms that allow global teams to design and simulate products in a shared virtual space.
5. Culture and Workforce Transformation
Digital Engineering is as much about people as it is about technology. It requires a mindset shift where data is treated as a high-value asset that must be shared, not protected in silos.
Why Digital Engineering is a Game Changer
| Traditional Engineering | Digital Engineering |
| Document-centric: Information is buried in PDFs and emails. | Model-centric: Information is stored in integrated, navigable models. |
| Sequential: One team finishes, then “throws it over the wall.” | Concurrent: Teams collaborate in real-time on a shared digital model. |
| Reactive: Testing happens at the end; errors are expensive. | Predictive: Simulation and validation happen early and often. |
| Manual Traceability: Hard to track changes across tools. | Automated Traceability: The Digital Thread tracks every change instantly. |
The Strategic Role of PLM in Digital Engineering
PLM is the “Operating System” of Digital Engineering. Without a robust PLM strategy, Digital Engineering tools would just be more “digital silos.”
- Data Governance: PLM provides the rules for who can change the digital model.
- Interoperability: PLM acts as the bridge between different engineering tools (e.g., connecting a requirements tool with a simulation tool).
- Configuration Management: Ensuring that the “Digital Thread” always points to the correct version of the data.
How Visure Solutions Powers Digital Engineering
Visure Requirements ALM Platform is the starting point of the Digital Engineering journey:
- From Text to Models: Visure allows you to move beyond simple text-based requirements into structured, model-based requirements that integrate with MBSE tools.
- The Heart of the Digital Thread: Visure provides end-to-end traceability, ensuring that every digital model and simulation is linked back to the original stakeholder need.
- Early Validation: Use Visure’s AI and simulation capabilities to “test” your requirements before a single line of CAD is drawn.
- Regulatory Readiness: In a digital engineering environment, audits are automated. Visure generates the compliance evidence directly from the digital data flow.
Conclusion: Engineering at the Speed of Thought
Digital Engineering is not just a trend; it is the only way to manage the complexity of the 21st-century products. By replacing documents with models and silos with threads, companies can innovate faster, reduce risk, and build products that were previously unimaginable.
With Visure, your transition to Digital Engineering is seamless. We provide the requirement-driven foundation that makes your digital models trustworthy, traceable, and ready for the future of manufacturing.
Check out the 14-day free trial at Visure and experience how AI-driven change control can help you manage changes faster, safer, and with full audit readiness.
