Cloud-based File Management

Sign up for a free Kenesto Drive trial here

UC San Diego’s Human-Powered Submarine Team Dives Deeper with Kenesto

UC San Diego Sub

This dedicated team of 15 students, representing diverse disciplines like aerospace, mechanical, and computer engineering, to physics, biology, and even English, are pushing the boundaries of underwater exploration. But their journey wasn’t without its challenges.

Streamlining Collaboration and Communication:
Before Kenesto, the team relied on GrabCAD, which, while useful, lacked crucial features for seamless collaboration. Frequent forgotten uploads led to version control chaos, and inconsistent file naming created confusion for new members.

Kenesto to the Rescue:
Enter Kenesto, the intuitive and collaborative engineering platform that empowers teams to work smarter, not harder.
Features like:
OneDrive-style upload: Ensures everyone is always working on the latest version.
Web-based CAD Viewer: Simplifies file viewing and sharing without needing dedicated software.
Offline working: Keeps the team productive even without internet access.
Multi-file type storage: Accommodates diverse file formats, from CAD models to documents and PDFs.

The Impact is Clear:
Cindy Tran, the team lead, shares, “Kenesto’s quality-of-life improvements have been immediate and impactful. The instant upload feature eliminates version control issues, and the web previewer makes collaboration a breeze. It’s the perfect platform for our diverse team.”

We’re excited to see their innovative submarine designs come to life, powered by collaboration and cutting-edge technology.
Are you an engineering team seeking to break boundaries? Join the Kenesto community and experience the power of collaborative engineering.

Click here to try Kenesto today!

How to transition from GrabCAD Workbench to Kenesto

All GrabCAD Workbench services end on June 1, 2023.  We’ve had a lot of conversations recently about how to migrate from GrabCAD to Kenesto.  Here are some pointers.

Getting Started

Begin by getting a trial Kenesto license here.  There’s no charge for the trial and the trial is a full function license.   You may be tempted to get a trial license for everyone in your company – don’t do it.  Instead, add users to your account and after you’ve added them, share your data.

What else do I need to do to get started?

After you’ve installed our Kenesto Drive software, the very next thing you should do is set your anti-virus application to exclude the Kenesto application and storage.  This is really important, and we’ll give you complete details about how to do this.

How is Kenesto Different from GrabCAD?

For starters, Kenesto does not synchronize your files with others — Kenesto works quite differently.  With Kenesto you have a single source of truth for your files, i.e., your files live encrypted on Amazon S3.  Locally, you have a cached version of the files that you own or that have been shared with you.  Your colleagues also have a cached copy of the files that they own or that have been shared with them.  When you open a file, edit it, and then save it, the single source of truth in the cloud gets updated.  If this file has been shared with a colleague, then their cached version becomes obsolete when you save your edits.  The next time your colleague opens the file, the up-to-date version is fetched from the cloud.  All of this is automatic.  The difference between this and the syncing model of GrabCAD is subtle but important. With our automatic file locking, it is impossible to overwrite your colleagues’ work. Kenesto also has a vaulting capability.

Does Kenesto manage versions?

Kenesto keeps every version of every file you save.  You can easily roll back to a previous version.

What is the user interface for Kenesto?

Kenesto users can install a Kenesto Drive application which exposes all the functionality with a right mouse button (RMB) select in Windows Explorer or, Kenesto users can access their data through our web application.

How do I use Kenesto with my CAD system?

If you’re a SolidWorks user, Kenesto has a free plugin to let you work with Kenesto inside SolidWorks.  If you’ve created custom properties in SolidWorks, you can edit them from the Kenesto menus in Windows Explorer.
Users of other CAD systems access their data through Windows Explorer or the Kenesto web app.

Can I set up a common parts library?

Yes.  One way to do this is to create a folder, make it read only for everyone except an admin or two, and share it with everyone you want to have access to the data.

Does Kenesto include a viewer for non-CAD users?

Yes.  Included with Kenesto is a 3D viewer for most CAD file formats.  With the viewer, you can markup views, take measurements, explode assemblies, and share views with other users.

What else does Kenesto do?

Kenesto has a suite of tools for managing PDF documents, and a task and workflow engine.

Is Kenesto free like GrabCAD Workbench?

No.  Kenesto is modestly priced. An individual subscription costs $300/year and we have discounts for 10 or more subscribers.

Does Kenesto offer technical support?

We’re happy to schedule a web call with you to get you going.  You can also create a support ticket by sending an email to [email protected] or completing the support request form on our website.

Single source of truth for engineering and construction

Case Study: Renaissance reduces RFIs with Kenesto PDFBilt

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What is Kenesto?

Kenesto is a robust cloud-based product document management system.

Kenesto was designed by engineers for engineers and designers, delivering a robust solution for small- and medium-sized companies, especially those working in a diverse ecosystem with many types of documents. With the Kenesto Drive service on a PC, CAD and other applications work directly with the cloud documents just like a local drive, always ensuring access to the most current document. Kenesto provides the necessary tools needed to easily share, view, collaborate with external users, manage permissions, create versions, and lock documents for day-to-day work. Kenesto provides engineers and designers the power, simplicity, and flexibility beyond consumer cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox, and a great alternative to complex and expensive traditional PDM systems.

“Kenesto stands out as a leader in forward-thinking online engineering data management. We now have a secure, cloud-based solution for product document management, collaboration and version control, accessible from wherever we are in the world. On top of that, the Kenesto Drive feature allows our team to interact with our data as though it were a mapped server drive.”

Josh Adams, PE, Founding Principal, Apollo Engineering Design Group

“Kenesto is more than a collaboration tool – it’s fully-customizable to work with your processes and designs, and it provides a virtual workspace to store, view, and manage your data.”

–Elise Moss, Senior Mechanical/Thermal Engineer

“Kenesto has helped us structure our communication flow so that all involved can see the status of every campaign at a glance.”

–Erin Howell, Digital Campaign Manager, MEDIATA