Cloud PDM: A Single Source of Truth for Engineering Data
What Does a Single Source of Truth Mean in PDM?
What does Kenesto mean by a PDM single source of truth? How is Kenesto different from consumer-grade cloud storage solutions?
A PDM single source of truth ensures that everyone on an engineering team works from the same current version of product data. Kenesto stores engineering documents in the cloud as the authoritative version, while automatically locking files when they are being edited and maintaining a complete version history. This prevents users from accidentally overwriting each other’s work while allowing teams to collaborate from different locations.
Automatic file locking protects users from accidentally overwriting each other’s work. Kenesto’s version control automatically creates a new version each time a user saves a file, preserving a complete history of changes.
This creates a true single source of truth for product data. Unlike consumer-grade cloud storage, which relies on synchronizing local copies, Kenesto maintains a controlled, authoritative version of each document so users always know which version is current.
Apollo Engineering Design Group is a mechanical engineering and design firm headquartered in Logan, Utah. Josh Adams, a professional mechanical engineer founded the company in October 2015 building on his experience with designing amusement rides, autonomous robots, heavy construction equipment and aircraft landing gear. Today Apollo employs ten people to deliver design and FEA services including structural, vibration and shock, and thermal analysis applications. The company’s toolset includes SolidWorks, Ansys, and MathCAD and expects to add solutions from Altair in the near future. The company also has experience with TeamCenter, Windchill, and ProEngineer.
Amusement Ride (Image courtesy Theme Park Archive)
Apollo founder Adams states, “From the beginning, we have always sought a PDM single source of truth for managing our data.” To achieve this, Apollo has been a Kenesto customer since 2017. All employees have the Kenesto drive installed on their computers. Adams initially used OneDrive when launching Apollo, but this led to lost data. Later, when he hired his first employee, they used Sync.com. However, Sync.com lacked speed and performance.
Adams also considered consumer solutions like Box and Dropbox. He rejected these due to storage and synchronization burdens. He has no interest in building and maintaining on-premises storage infrastructure like SolidWorks EPDM. His goal has always been a true cloud-based solution.
Apollo is experienced in remote project execution and robust data management. All employees are located near the Salt Lake City metropolitan area in northern Utah. Most work from home offices, except for two interns at the company headquarters. Adams says the company has operated this way since its inception. His employees regularly communicate using advanced chat and video conferencing tools. They also use Kenesto for data management, which provides agility and scheduling benefits.
As a result, COVID-19 had little impact on daily workflows. The only disruption occurred in projects where Apollo employees were onsite with clients. Recently, the company has also resumed its weekly team meeting at headquarters.
Vacuum Chamber (Image courtesy Apollo Engineering)
The service in software in software as a service
Adams highly praises Kenesto’s service and support. He notes that lead support engineer Mike Bacin has a “response time in minutes.” Adams also mentions, “He’s very quick to instruct his users on how to solve an issue or to get on TeamViewer and resolve it directly.”
Looking ahead, Adams hopes to see Kenesto expand its capabilities. He would like features commonly found in enterprise PDM single source of truth solutions, such as the ability to lock and control major product versions made up of multiple files.