PDM Single Source of Truth for Engineering Data
A PDM single source of truth ensures that everyone on an engineering team works from the same current version of product data. Instead of CAD files scattered across laptops, email threads and personal cloud folders, every drawing, model and assembly lives in one authoritative location that the whole team checks against.
For CAD and engineering teams, this matters more than it does for ordinary office documents. A CAD assembly is a web of dependencies — a change to one part file can affect a dozen drawings and assemblies that reference it. If two engineers open and edit the same file at the same time, or work from different local copies, the result is broken references, overwritten work, and hours spent figuring out which version is actually correct.
Kenesto stores engineering documents in the cloud as the authoritative version, automatically locking files while they’re being edited and maintaining a complete version history. That combination — one authoritative copy, automatic locking, and full version control — is what makes a true single source of truth possible for distributed engineering teams.
Why Engineering Teams Need a Single Source of Truth
No conflicting CAD copies
Everyone works from the same authoritative file instead of personal, possibly outdated, local copies.
Automatic file locking
When someone opens a file to edit it, Kenesto locks it automatically, so no one can overwrite their work.
Version control
Every save creates a new version automatically, preserving a complete history of changes.
One authoritative cloud copy
There’s a single current version of record, not multiple synced copies that can drift out of alignment.
Distributed team collaboration
Engineers can work from anywhere and still trust that they’re looking at the current file.
No synchronization conflicts
Because Kenesto doesn’t rely on syncing local copies, there’s no risk of the sync-conflict duplicates and merge errors common with consumer file-sync tools.
How Kenesto Creates a Single Source of Truth
Kenesto works differently from a typical shared drive or sync folder. Files live in the cloud as the single authoritative copy — not as a master file that gets synced down into a dozen local copies. When an engineer opens a file to work on it, Kenesto automatically locks that file, so no one else on the team can open and edit the same file at the same time. Every time the file is saved, Kenesto automatically creates a new version, building a complete, ordered history of every change.
The result is that the whole team — no matter where they’re located — is always working from the same current version, with a clear record of who changed what and when. There’s no manual check-in/check-out process to remember and no risk of two people silently overwriting each other’s work.
Kenesto vs. Dropbox, OneDrive and Other Cloud Storage
It’s a fair question: doesn’t Dropbox or OneDrive already do this? Not really — and the difference matters most for CAD.
Consumer cloud storage tools are built to synchronize files: they keep a copy on your computer and quietly sync changes to the cloud and back down to everyone else’s computer. That model works reasonably well for a single Word document. It breaks down for CAD data, where files are large, interdependent, and frequently edited by more than one person on a team.
Because there’s no file locking, two engineers can open and edit the same CAD file at once without any warning — and consumer tools have no way to merge two versions of a model or drawing, so one person’s changes get silently overwritten or the sync tool creates a “conflicted copy” that someone has to manually reconcile. Because every user’s computer holds its own local copy, teams end up with multiple versions of the truth instead of one — and if a local copy is deleted, corrupted, or simply falls out of sync, the data can be lost entirely.
Kenesto is built specifically around this problem. There’s one authoritative copy in the cloud, not a set of copies syncing between machines. Files lock automatically while they’re being edited. Every save is versioned. It’s the difference between a tool designed to sync general files and a system designed to be a PDM single source of truth for engineering data.
Customer Example: Apollo Engineering
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)
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.
Create Your Cloud PDM
Give your engineering team one authoritative source for every CAD file — with automatic locking and full version history.