PDM, PLM, and Autodesk Vault

Clarify lifecycle, metadata, release, and ownership before platform changes expand.

CAD Guardian helps engineering teams map product and document workflows, reduce migration risk, and implement focused Vault, PDM, or PLM improvements around records people can validate.

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Records: Parts, assemblies, drawings, documents, BOMs, and change records
Controls: Metadata, lifecycle, revision, approval, permission, and release
First boundary: One product family, document class, or lifecycle segment
Handoff: State model, field dictionary, risk list, and pilot backlog

Operating problem

File chaos is usually an ownership problem before it is a platform problem.

Duplicate files, broken references, uncertain revisions, missing metadata, and inconsistent approvals create release risk. Buying or migrating a platform before those rules are visible can preserve the confusion in a more expensive system.

Unclear source of truth across folders, PDM, PLM, ERP, and document systems
Lifecycle states that do not match actual engineering work
Metadata fields with no accountable owner
Release, change, and approval paths that rely on manual interpretation
Migration pressure without a representative validation set

Service scope

Model the records, decisions, and transitions the platform must support.

Current and target lifecycle states
Metadata and field ownership
Revision, approval, release, and change boundaries
File references, document classes, and BOM relationships
Permissions, integrations, jobs, and downstream handoffs
Migration containment, cleanup, and pilot strategy

Deliverables

Governance and technical artifacts tied to representative records.

Lifecycle: State and transition model
Metadata: Field dictionary and ownership matrix
Migration: Risk, exception, and containment report
Pilot: Product-family or document-class backlog

Delivery process

Walk real records through the proposed control model.

01 — Inventory one representative record and release path.
02 — Identify state, metadata, permission, and ownership gaps.
03 — Design the minimum viable lifecycle and integration boundary.
04 — Validate representative files and exceptions against the model.
05 — Plan cleanup, migration, configuration, or automation in contained slices.

Evidence

Readiness evidence is separated from unsupported production claims.

Public proof can demonstrate fixture checks, metadata readiness, reference analysis, and API boundaries. Native Vault, PDM, or PLM configuration and state changes require the supported environment and customer-specific controls.

Review Inventor and Vault context Review SolidWorks and PDM context

Engagement fit

Start with the smallest lifecycle boundary that can be judged honestly.

Vault or PDM workflow redesign
Metadata and lifecycle cleanup
Migration readiness and exception analysis
Job processing, integration, and release automation
Document-control and source-of-truth clarification

Next step

Bring one product family, document class, or release path.

Name the current systems, states, metadata, failure modes, representative records available later, and the lifecycle decision that must become clearer.

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