Document and data management for engineering projects is no small task, where seemingly trivial errors can lead to critical problems moving forward. While a majority of engineering documents need to be reviewed, edited, and made accessible to other departments in an organization, typically, these files are saved in disparate locations and access to documentation is restricted. However, projects require collaboration across different teams that may be located in different locations. Especially when revisions start rolling in, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of changes and to ensure that engineers are working on the most recent version. Founded on the principle of helping engineers with document and file management problems, Kenesto offers a cloud-based product document management (PDM) solution that enables collaboration and streamlines engineering processes. Kenesto is designed for engineers and designers by engineers; the platform helps engineers simplify their document environment, reduce expenses, and increase efficiency.

Utilizing Kenesto, engineers can store, share, view, update versions, and collaborate with computer-aided design (CAD) and other documents on the cloud securely.“An important feature of Kenesto is that users are always in full control of their documents and designs,” states Leslie Minasian, Vice President, Partnerships and Alliances, Kenesto. A user can permit others to view, mark-up, or edit their documents and designs, and can collaborate with them in real time or asynchronously. Common document types supported in Kenesto include the Microsoft Office suite and designs created in a variety of CAD solutions including Creo, Catia, SOLIDWORKS, NX, COMSOL, Revit and others. In addition, engineering teams can create their workspaces with people, workflow, forms, data, and reports— including bills of materials, change requests, and purchasing forms—with Kenesto’s proprietary intelligent synchronization and unique virtual drive approach.

Kenesto provides engineers and designers the power, simplicity, and flexibility beyond consumer cloud storage solutions, and a great alternative to complex and expensive traditional PDM systems

“Kenesto provides engineers and designers the power, simplicity, and flexibility beyond consumer cloud storage solutions, and a great alternative to complex and expensive traditional PDM systems,” says Michael Payne, CEO Kenesto. Kenesto offers an alternative to in-house shared network drives called the Kenesto Drive. The virtual local drive allows files to be paired from desktop devices to Kenesto Cloud automatically; any changes made by any of the users are immediately transmitted to other folders and documents. While serving the same purpose as a physical drive, Kenesto Drive has the added benefits of automatic file versioning, extremely simple and effective file locking, automated back-up, multi-CAD assembly support, offline access, and project file organization to name a few. Kenesto Drive supports documents shared while maintaining all permissions and status levels to reduce the risk of files being overwritten in a collaborative engineering environment.

Kenesto proved to be a perfect fit for Apollo Engineering Design Group, a firm that provides contract-engineering services. Apollo’s employees worked from their own home offices and were spread across the U.S. They were unsatisfied with traditional solutions like Dropbox for remote collaboration and were having overwrite issues because the design files were not synchronizing fast enough when all the team members were collaborating on it. Kenesto’s solution ensured that all of Apollo’s team members were able to work seamlessly on the same network while file versions were constantly updated. Josh Adams, founder of Apollo also explained that Kenesto was not only affordable but also easy to implement.

Kenesto sets itself apart from its competitors with its dedication to building a flexible, easy-to-use, and secure environment for document collaboration. Kenesto also actively communicates with its customers for feedback, since the company believes that it is necessary for a product to be effective. Kenesto serves as more than a collaboration tool, it provides engineers with a virtual workspace to store, view, and manage data.