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PRODUCT DATA MANAGEMENT

Product data management that extends beyond design

Adept Cloud and Adept help engineering teams manage CAD models, drawings, and related engineering documents in one controlled system — while connecting product data to the workflows, teams, and processes that keep your business moving.

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Trusted by engineering teams managing complex CAD and product data across manufacturing, industrial, and engineering-driven organizations.

Used by organizations that need more than a CAD vault — and more control than traditional PDM alone can provide.

 

“Adept gives us SOLIDWORKS-capable product data management and a single repository for all our documents across Germany, India, Ireland, and the United States. It’s helped us run the business more efficiently, shortened our design cycle, enabled faster response to customers, and ultimately improved our sales.”
Brian Walsh Global IT Manager SchuF Valve Technology

Traditional PDM only solves part of the problem

Design teams need control over CAD models, drawings, versions, references, and release processes. But product data does not stop at design.

It connects to manufacturing, quality, operations, maintenance, compliance, and service teams — and to the full lifecycle of the product or facility it describes. When product data is locked inside a design-only system, teams outside engineering struggle to find, use, and trust the information they need.

Adept closes that gap. It gives engineering teams the PDM capabilities they need — while giving the broader organization controlled access to accurate, trusted engineering information.

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Why Adept instead of a standalone PDM system?

Adept is built for organizations that need PDM capabilities and broader engineering document management in one system — not two separate tools.

Traditional PDM
ss-symbol-full-color-dark@2x Adept
Primarily serves CAD users and design teams
Serves engineering, manufacturing, quality, operations, maintenance, capital projects, and leadership
Specializes in managing product data and design-related workflows
Manages product, plant, and equipment data and workflows for the entire organization — including capital engineering projects
CAD files and associated design documents — focused on what the design team produces
CAD files plus the broader engineering record: product, equipment, and plant documentation accessible across teams
Limited access for non-CAD teams — viewer licenses available in some systems
Governed access for every team that depends on engineering information, with workflow participation, approvals, and full traceability
Standalone system separate from operations
Connected to the full lifecycle — from design and release through manufacturing, service, and long-term operations

Built for the way engineering teams work

Adept integrates with the CAD tools your teams already use. Engineers manage product data without leaving their design environment — and can access Adept directly from inside their CAD application through an expandable task pane.

SOLIDWORKS

Manage models, drawings, references, configurations, versions, and release processes directly from your engineering workflow. Check in/out, view where-used relationships, approve or reject files in workflow — all without leaving SOLIDWORKS.

AutoCAD

Manage drawings, XREFs, revisions, metadata, and engineering documentation in one governed system. AutoCAD users get fast access to version-correct drawings and can manage file relationships without breaking XREF connections.

Autodesk Inventor

Control assemblies, drawings, relationships, and related documentation with secure version and revision management. Browse by metadata, preview designs, view composed-of details, and route files for approval from the Adept Task Pane inside Inventor.

MicroStation and other tools

Support complex engineering environments with connected document control and CAD-aware workflows. Adept’s broad format support extends control beyond any single CAD system.

"Our systems have anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 parts on them. Trying to manage Inventor assemblies on that number of parts along with their various revisions and changes is impossible to imagine without some sort of a document management system.”
Ken Pizzo
Ken Pizzo Product Engineering Manager Plasma-Therm

Keep product data accurate, controlled, and accessible

Adept helps engineering teams maintain control over product data from design through release and beyond.

CAD relationship management

Control models, assemblies, drawings, references, configurations, and where-used relationships across all CAD systems

Version and revision control

Major/minor versions, check-in/check-out, auto-increment revisions, approval-based release processes

Bi-directional property linking

Extract metadata from CAD title blocks and push data from Adept back to CAD properties in batch mode

File relationship management

Keep parts, assemblies, drawings, XREFs, and configurations intact through check-in/out, moves, and renames

Workflow and change management

Route designs for review, capture approvals, manage document states through controlled check-in and approvals, notify stakeholders, maintain full traceability

Search and design reuse

Find version-correct designs in seconds without leaving CAD; batch copy and rename for new projects

Enterprise access control

Give manufacturing, quality, operations, and maintenance teams controlled access without CAD licenses

Audit trail and traceability

Complete history of who did what and when — for every document throughout its lifecycle

Centralized visualization

View and mark up Inventor, SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, MicroStation, PDF, Office, and more without a CAD license

Metadata and attribute management

Custom fields, protected fields, restricted values, and hierarchical relationships

Secure vaulting

Granular user and group permissions, SSO, MFA, and encrypted storage

Connected document management

Link CAD data with specifications, procedures, manuals, and related engineering documents in one system

Move product changes through the right process

Product data changes quickly. Adept helps teams control how those changes are reviewed, approved, released, and shared — whether you are managing a new product, engineering change, drawing update, or released design package.

Use Adept to:

  • Route designs and documents for review
  • Capture approvals and maintain full traceability
  • Manage document states through controlled check-in and approval processes
  • Notify stakeholders automatically
  • Trigger workflows on check-in
  • Prevent teams from working from outdated information

CAD users can approve or reject files right inside their CAD application. Time-based alerts notify teams if a review is running behind. Every step is logged with a full audit trail.

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Created by engineering. Used by everyone.

Product data is created by engineering, but many teams across the organization depend on it. Adept Cloud and Adept give non-CAD users controlled access to the engineering information they need — without requiring them to work inside a CAD system or design-only PDM tool.

Manufacturing

Find released drawings and specifications without waiting on engineering.

Quality

Access specifications, approvals, and traceability documentation directly.

Operations

Reference accurate, current documentation from one trusted source.

Maintenance

Work from trusted engineering information tied to the equipment and assets they maintain.

Leadership

See status, revision history, and traceability across product and project data.

Product data becomes more valuable when it supports the full lifecycle

For most organizations, product data does not end when design is complete — but what that means depends on your business.

For product manufacturers

Engineering teams manage the product designs they develop and sell to customers — CAD models, drawings, specifications, BOMs, and service documentation. Getting products to market faster, managing revisions cleanly, and supporting field service and quality teams all depend on product data that is accurate, controlled, and accessible after release.

But product manufacturers also have a factory. Equipment to maintain. A plant floor layout to manage. Facility documentation that needs to stay current. Many organizations find that Adept serves both needs in one system — governing the product data that drives revenue and the plant documentation that keeps manufacturing running.

For asset-intensive operators

Engineering documents describe the plant, facility, or infrastructure being operated and maintained — P&IDs, equipment specs, instrumentation diagrams, maintenance procedures. These need to stay aligned with physical conditions across decades of operation, plant modifications, and maintenance events.

When documentation drifts from the physical plant, maintenance teams work from outdated information, operational risk compounds, and the cost of unplanned events grows. Adept keeps plant documentation accurate and connected to the assets it describes — so operations and maintenance teams always have the right information.

In both cases — and for organizations that are both — Adept keeps engineering documents connected, controlled, and accessible throughout the full lifecycle. This is where PDM and engineering document management converge, and where Adept delivers value that standalone PDM systems cannot.

Built for teams that need PDM and more

Adept is a strong fit for organizations that:

  • Manage complex CAD models, drawings, and engineering documentation
  • Need strong SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, AutoCAD, or MicroStation integration
  • Want more control than shared folders or basic document management
  • Need broader access than traditional CAD-focused PDM systems provide
  • Want to connect product data with workflows, approvals, and operational processes
  • Need a single source of truth for engineering information across teams
  • Serve product manufacturers, asset-intensive operators, or both — and need documentation that supports the full lifecycle
  • Want PDM and engineering document management in one system, not two

Frequently asked questions

Questions engineering leaders ask before choosing Adept for product data management.
  • Product data management (PDM) focuses on managing CAD files, models, drawings, versions, and design release workflows — primarily serving engineering and design teams. Engineering document management (EDM) governs a broader set of engineering information across the full organization, including non-CAD documents, workflows, compliance records, and operational access for manufacturing, quality, maintenance, and leadership teams. Adept provides both in one system — giving engineering teams the PDM depth they need while connecting product data to the people and processes that depend on it beyond design.
  • Yes. Adept has a native SOLIDWORKS integration that lets engineers manage models, drawings, references, configurations, versions, and release workflows directly from within SOLIDWORKS — without switching applications. Engineers can check files in and out, view where-used relationships, approve or reject files in workflow, and access Adept through an expandable task pane inside their SOLIDWORKS environment.
  • Yes. Adept has a native Autodesk Inventor integration that lets engineers manage assemblies, drawings, references, configurations, versions, and release workflows directly from within Inventor — without switching applications. Engineers can check files in and out, view where-used and composed-of relationships, approve or reject files in workflow, and access Adept through an expandable task pane inside their Inventor environment.
  • SOLIDWORKS PDM, Autodesk Vault, and other dedicated PDM systems are purpose-built for design teams and their specific CAD environments — SOLIDWORKS PDM for SOLIDWORKS users, Vault for Inventor and AutoCAD users. Adept provides comparable PDM capabilities across SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, AutoCAD, and MicroStation in one system, while also serving the broader organization with engineering document management, cross-team access control, lifecycle governance, and enterprise application integration. Organizations that need PDM across multiple CAD platforms, or need broader engineering document control beyond the design team, typically find that Adept replaces two separate systems with one.
  • Yes. Adept provides controlled access for manufacturing, quality, operations, maintenance, and leadership teams without requiring a CAD license. Non-CAD users can search and find released drawings, specifications, and engineering documents, view and mark up files with the integrated visualization tool, participate in review and approval workflows, and access approved information from one governed source of truth. While other PDM systems offer limited viewer access for non-CAD users, Adept is built to serve the full organization — not just the design team — with the same governance, traceability, and workflow participation that engineering teams rely on.
  • Yes. Adept Cloud and Adept both integrate natively with SOLIDWORKS, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, and MicroStation, and support a broad range of additional file formats through their visualization and document management capabilities. This makes both platforms well-suited for organizations that use multiple CAD tools across different teams, disciplines, or legacy systems.
  • The answer depends on what kind of organization you are. For product manufacturers, engineering documents — drawings, specifications, service manuals, and BOMs — need to remain accurate and accessible long after a product ships, supporting manufacturing, quality, field service, and product revisions. For asset-intensive operators — plants, utilities, facilities — engineering documents describe the infrastructure being operated and maintained, and need to stay aligned with physical conditions across decades of plant modifications and maintenance events. In both cases, Adept governs engineering documents in one controlled system so the right information is available to the right teams throughout the full lifecycle — not just during design.
  • Yes — and this is one of the ways Adept differs from traditional PDM systems. Product manufacturers use Adept to manage CAD models, drawings, and engineering documents for the products they design and sell — connecting design to manufacturing, quality, field service, and product revisions. Asset-intensive operators — chemical plants, utilities, oil and gas, mining, life sciences facilities — use Adept to govern the engineering documentation that describes their plant, equipment, and infrastructure across decades of operation, maintenance, and plant modifications. Many organizations are both: they manufacture products and operate the facilities where those products are made. Adept handles both in one system.

 

 

Manage product data with control that goes beyond design

See how Adept helps your teams manage CAD models, drawings, workflows, and related engineering documents in one trusted system.

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