Manufacturers across aerospace, defense, transportation, and industrial sectors are investing heavily in model-based definition (MBD) and digital engineering. These initiatives promise significant gains in speed, quality, and efficiency. Yet many organizations find that the value of their PLM and CAD investment stalls when model-based data must move beyond engineering. This barrier—known as the “collaboration gap”—emerges when downstream teams such as manufacturing, quality, and suppliers struggle to access, interpret, and act on critical product information. Engineers may create precise 3D models with product manufacturing information (PMI), but without effective ways to share that data, organizations fall back on manual conversions, static documents, and ad-hoc processes. The result is missed deadlines, version control issues, rework, and higher costs that undermine digital transformation efforts. The Challenge: Extending Value Beyond Engineering Engineering alone cannot achieve the vision of a model-based enterprise (MBE). For MBD to deliver real business impact, product data must flow seamlessly to internal and external stakeholders alike. The challenge is delivering that data in a way that is secure and universally accessible, without requiring every user to master complex tools. The Opportunity: Turning MBD into MBE This presentation explores how leading manufacturers are overcoming the collaboration gap and turning MBD into MBE. By automating the publishing and collaboration process, companies are transforming model-based data into usable, consumable formats tailored to the needs of diverse stakeholders. Key strategies include: • Model-based Engineering Reviews – Streamline model-based engineering reviews with secure, traceable 3D collaboration. No CAD/PLM complexity. Faster cycles, fewer changes, better quality. • Visual Work Instructions – Providing shop floor technicians with clear, 3D visual guidance that improves task execution and captures valuable feedback. • Supplier Collaboration – Delivering secure, traceable access to model-based data that reduces delays, prevents errors, and improves supplier responsiveness. • Digital Thread Enablement – Extending authoritative product data across the lifecycle to ensure that the right people have the right information at the right time. • Standards-Driven Deliverables – Automating the generation of technical data packages (TDPs) that align with MIL-STD-31000, FAA type certification, CUI, and other industry standards. Value for Attendees Participants in this session will leave with actionable insights into how to: 1. Eliminate manual bottlenecks by reducing the need for file conversions and rework. 2. Accelerate adoption of MBD by making product data accessible and usable beyond engineering. 3. Improve quality and compliance through standards-based publishing workflows. 4. Enhance supplier performance with secure and traceable data exchange. 5. Advance digital thread strategies that connect engineering, manufacturing, quality, and the supply chain. Real-world examples will illustrate how companies have dramatically improved performance, accelerated cycle times, and reduced scrap and errors by bridging the collaboration gap. Conclusion The promise of the model-based enterprise is not just in creating 3D models, but in ensuring those models drive decisions, execution, and collaboration across the entire value chain. By addressing the collaboration gap, organizations can unlock the full return on their digital engineering investments and take the critical step from MBD to MBE.