Autodesk Bundles its PLM and Recently Acquired PDM Tools

Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage and Upchain are now a 1-click buy.

Autodesk announced a new offering, Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain. The products are not new but instead of licensing them separately, they are now available as a single offering from Autodesk.

“By offering Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain, customers have the advantage of both cloud PLM and PDM for one price, ” says Alexandra Maraldo, Autodesk marketing manager.

Fusion 360 Manage (formerly Fusion Lifecycle) is Autodesk’s PLM solution. Product lifecycle management (PLM) is about managing a product from start to finish—from cradle to grave—as in conception to manufacturing and delivery to after-sales service. Fusion 360 Manage is 100 percent cloud based, providing users what Autodesk coined “Instant PLM,” all via the browser. Autodesk supplies an open API that allows integration with other systems. This would appear key to future integrations between Fusion 360 Manage and Upchain.

Product data management (PDM) systems manage engineering design data and processes. Upchain is Autodesk’s recently acquired cloud-based PDM/PLM solution. Although it flirts with PLM, at the heart of Upchain is a cloud-based PDM system. Autodesk acquired Upchain in 2021.

Side note. What about Autodesk Vault? It is still there and is not going anywhere. Vault continues as Autodesk’s on-premises PDM solution. It is not part of this new offering. However, Vault PLM, a combination of Vault and Fusion Manage, is available.

As both are cloud-based, users will have instant access from anywhere to their data and processes from any browser or mobile device. Autodesk PLM standardizes business workflows, provides CAD integration, improves new product introduction (NPI), and introduces quality management, change orders, bill of materials and supplier collaboration.

“Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage with Upchain is a true cloud-based SaaS solution for PDM and PLM, delivering data and process management capabilities that enable manufacturers to digitally transform product development and collaboration workflows,” according to the Autodesk website.

The configurable out-of-the-box workflows means that this is an instant-on solution. Many applications will be up and running in days. You don’t have to implement all of the solution at once. You can put in place the workflows as you need them or as you are ready for them. The APIs mean there are integrations with other enterprise systems like enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer resource management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).

Using these two products together closes the gap between PDM and PLM; Upchain for PDM with Fusion Manage takes over in PLM where Upchain is lacking. Intended for data management, Fusion Manage does not manage files and CAD data (well). A strength of Upchain is file management with its multi-CAD integration, including extracting bills of materials (BOMs) from the CAD models.

There is overlap in the functionality of Autodesk’s PLM and PDM products. How the company plans to integrate the two platforms still remains to be answered. It is no secret that Autodesk plans to merge these platforms and integrate them with Forge. Offering the products together is the first step in that process.

There does not appear to be an upgrade path from Fusion Manage or Upchain to the combined package. You can add licenses of the other product, but to get the combined offering you will need to wait for your current contract to expire .