Digital Manufacturing
Digital manufacturing is the discipline of creating and using an integrated, computer-based system that includes simulation, 3D visualization, analytics, and collaborative tools to define, plan, create, monitor, and control manufacturing processes. It connects the engineering BOM to the manufacturing BOM through virtual factory models, process simulation, and tooling definitions — before the first physical part is made. Tecnomatix (now Siemens), Delmia (Dassault), and PTC MPMLink are the major platforms in this category.
Why it matters
Digital manufacturing is where the engineering digital thread hands off to the production digital thread. Without it, the product as-designed and the product as-built diverge at first article inspection and never fully reconcile. West Coast PLM vendors — from San Diego's MP3 roots through Autodesk's Fusion 360 manufacturing workspaces — contributed key ideas to the digital-manufacturing stack, and that heritage explains why simulation and process planning are increasingly shipped as cloud-native capabilities rather than on-premise tooling suites.
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Cite this definition
Finocchiaro, Michael. “Digital Manufacturing.” DemystifyingPLM PLM Glossary, 2026, https://www.demystifyingplm.com/glossary/digital-manufacturing