What is MatStream?¶
MatStream is a cloud-based Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform designed for engineering teams. It sits above your existing Product Data Management (PDM) tools — like Autodesk Vault — and adds the structured lifecycle control, traceability, and process management that PDM tools are not designed to provide.
PDM vs PLM — what is the difference?¶
Understanding where MatStream fits starts with understanding the difference between PDM and PLM:
| PDM | PLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Autodesk Vault, SolidWorks PDM | MatStream, Autodesk Fusion PLM |
| Focus | Managing CAD files and design data | Managing the product lifecycle, structured data, and business processes around those files |
| Primary users | Designers and CAD engineers | Engineering, quality, procurement, and management |
| Key questions answered | Where is the file? What version is this? Who checked it out? | Is this part approved? Who released it? What assemblies use it? What changed between revisions? |
MatStream does not replace Vault or Inventor. Your designers continue working in Inventor and Vault exactly as they do today. MatStream adds the PLM layer on top — formal lifecycle states, structured properties, BOM traceability, approval workflows, and organisation-wide visibility into your product data.
What does MatStream manage?¶
MatStream helps your team manage:
- Parts, assemblies, and documents — as structured entities with configurable properties, revision history, and lifecycle states
- Bills of Materials (BOMs) — the relationships between assemblies and their components, with full where-used traceability
- Approval workflows — controlled transitions between lifecycle states, with permission gates at each step
- Revision history — a complete, immutable record of every formal release of every item
- Files — drawings, specifications, and CAD files attached to specific entity versions
- Vault data — parts and assemblies from Autodesk Vault can be synchronised into MatStream automatically via the Vault integration plugin
Who is MatStream for?¶
MatStream is built for engineering teams who need to:
- Move beyond file management into structured product lifecycle control
- Maintain a formal approval process for parts and assemblies
- Give non-CAD users (quality, procurement, management) visibility into product data without needing Vault access
- Integrate their existing Vault workflow with a PLM layer without replacing the tools their designers depend on
Why not just use Autodesk Fusion PLM?¶
Autodesk Fusion PLM is a capable platform, but it comes with significant cost and complexity, and it is tightly coupled to the Autodesk ecosystem. MatStream is designed to be:
- Affordable — a SaaS model with no expensive on-premise infrastructure or per-seat CAD licences
- Flexible — configurable categories, properties, lifecycle states, and numbering schemes that match your process
- Modern — accessible from any browser, with no client software to install or maintain
- Practical — built by people with firsthand experience of real PLM migrations, not designed in a vacuum
Core concepts¶
| Concept | What it is |
|---|---|
| Workspace | Your organisation's isolated environment in MatStream, with its own users, data, and configuration |
| Entity | Any item you manage — a part, assembly, drawing, or document |
| Version | An internal snapshot created every time an entity is saved — the complete audit trail |
| Revision | A formally labelled release of an entity (e.g. A, B, C or 1, 2, 3) |
| Lifecycle state | Where an entity currently sits in your approval process (e.g. Draft, In Review, Released) |
| Category | The type of entity, which defines its properties, display tabs, and lifecycle |
| Property | A structured data field on an entity, such as material, weight, or supplier |
| Numbering scheme | A configurable template that automatically generates unique entity numbers |
How MatStream fits into your workflow¶
- Your designers work in Inventor and Vault as normal — nothing changes for them at the CAD level
- Vault data is synchronised into MatStream automatically via the Vault integration plugin
- In MatStream, parts and assemblies move through lifecycle states — Draft → In Review → Released — with controlled approval transitions
- Properties are captured and structured at the PLM level — material, supplier, lead time, and any other data your process requires
- BOM relationships are tracked with full where-used traceability — so you always know which assemblies are affected by a change to any part
- Non-CAD users in quality, procurement, and management get visibility into released product data without needing Vault access
New to PLM?
If you are new to Product Lifecycle Management, the best place to start is the Quick start guide. It walks you through the key concepts with a practical example before you dive into the details.
Next steps¶
- Workspaces — understand how workspaces are structured and how users and groups work
- Quick start — get up and running with a practical walkthrough
- Entities — dive into the core object model