Blog

Here is the problem most PLM and other product data tools ignore Most engineering and manufacturing companies already know they...

Welcome to the OpenBOM May 2026 update! Every month we work hard to make OpenBOM better — and this month...

Every product starts with an idea, but turning that idea into a shippable product requires structure, coordination, and detail. That’s...

Why disconnected BOM and product data holds AI agents back — and how to fix it AI agents in engineering...

For years, BOM review was often treated as a procedural step between engineering and release. Teams created bills of materials,...

I’m heading to SharePLM Summit 2026 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. This is a new conference in my calendar,...

How can product data flow seamlessly from design to production? What if engineers, manufacturing teams, contractors, and suppliers could all...

Many manufacturing companies using SOLIDWORKS as a mechanical design CAD system start with a relatively simple engineering process. A few...

For almost three decades, most PDM and PLM systems followed the same architectural assumptions. A product was represented as a...

In my experience, first article inspection is the single most effective checkpoint to prevent costly production errors. Before you run...

How modern products require connected data models that combine mechanical, electronic, software, and manufacturing information across the lifecycle. Why Mechanical...

Twenty years ago, designing a product mostly meant mechanical design. A mechanical assembly captured most of what needed to be...

How many bill of materials do you actually need? I get this question a lot from engineering and operations leaders...

Part numbers are the foundation of product data management in any engineering or manufacturing organization. Every component, subassembly, raw material,...

Earlier this week, I previewed CAD File Agent for SOLIDWORKS. If you missed that, check these two articles: Why did...

A new kind of experience for engineers who never wanted a PDM system in the first place We Started with...

When I left Autodesk, I had a strong gut feeling about where the industry was headed. CAD vendors, I believed,...

Engineering work starts with files. CAD assemblies, parts, drawings and other related design files are the foundation of product development....

One of the most common questions I hear from engineering and manufacturing teams is simple: how do we move product...

There is a moment in every engineering company when Excel stops being a helpful tool and becomes the bottleneck. At...

Most engineering teams do not start with a product data problem. They start with a design problem. They need to...

Every manufacturing company has a BOM review process. The question is what that process actually catches — and what still...

A BOM can exist and still not be ready for release. Here is why that matters  and what a better...

Every month, I look at OpenBOM updates not just as a list of features, but as a reflection of how...