Over the past 70 years, product design has undergone many important changes due to the impact of contemporary digital technologies (i.e. digital design). To support digital design and information flow throughout the product lifecycle, the digital-driven technologies currently in use rely on the evolution of CAD and PLM systems to address new design and manufacturing challenges generated by the new era of 4.0 digital transformation. This paper will discuss the past and present coevolution and shortcomings within industrial organisations, the digital technologies employed in the product development cycle and will illustrate the current challenges and future prospects of the digital thread for design.