Fusion Manage and PDM Concepts

Overview#

Fusion's built-in data management is excellent for a design team: automatic versions, milestones, references, comments. A growing company eventually needs more. Who approved this part? Which revision did we send to the supplier? What is the status of the whole bill of materials? Which change order introduced the new bracket? These are product data management (PDM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) questions.

This page explains the concepts first (so you can evaluate any system) and then maps them to Autodesk's Fusion Manage. Autodesk's documentation says Fusion Manage requires a separate license and can be used with Fusion or independently. In Fusion it works only in the hub created for your organisation, not in a personal hub, and your hub administrator must first assign licenses and enable it.

Where to find it#

• Fusion client: open any design and click the Manage tab. If Manage is not yet enabled for the hub, the first click shows a dialog that a hub administrator can confirm to Enable it (this creates the Fusion Manage site linked to the hub). To check your own entitlement, click Extensions in the Application bar, then Extend your functionality; the Manage block should read Active.
• Bill of Materials: the More menu at the top right of the BOM dialog offers Assign Item Number, Release with Change Order and Quick Release.
• Fusion Manage site: a browser-based site configured for your team. Its dashboard menu has PLM Roles, and the profile menu has Admin > Groups.
• Admin of Manage: workspace manager, workflow management, change management administration, security (roles, groups, workspace access) and item numbering schemes.

PDM concepts you should know#

A mature process connects these: a designer creates an item with a number, works on the CAD file through versions, submits a change order, the workflow routes approvals, the item revision increments and the lifecycle state becomes Released, and the BOM updates for purchasing.

What plain Fusion gives you#

• Change history, and versions (milestones in the education model) as significant points.
• References and out-of-date indicators.
• Comments and reviews.
• Project and folder permissions.
• Part number and description properties on components, shared part numbers, and BOM share and export. Collaborative editing hubs also let you edit properties and override quantities directly in the Bill of Materials.

What it lacks without Fusion Manage: enforced approval workflows, item numbers with lifecycle states, controlled revisions, change requests and change orders. (Design Reservation, which a team administrator can enable, reserves a design while someone has savable changes; it is a collision guard, not a formal check-out. It is not available for Personal use or single-member teams.)

Fusion Manage#

Fusion Manage (formerly Autodesk Fusion 360 Manage) connects Fusion to a version of Fusion Manage that focuses solely on design and drawing management, using change management. You assign item numbers to designs and drawings, track them through lifecycle states, and submit, review and approve changes. The site is organised into workspaces.

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: earlier product names (Fusion Lifecycle, PLM 360). The mirrored help only mentions "Fusion 360 Manage" as the former name. Search results and older blog posts may use other names.

System workspaces#

The site is made up of these workspaces:

System workspaces are maintained by Fusion and updated periodically. Administrators can also use the Workspace manager to create, edit, clone, purge or delete workspaces, fields and views, and server-side scripting (JavaScript: Condition, Validation, Action and Library scripts) extends workflows. The documentation does not list the example workspaces in older material, such as Suppliers or Quality Issues.

Key building blocks#

Components that share a part number share an item number, revisions, lifecycle and states (not in Fusion for education); only the primary model of the shared part number group appears when you assign an item number.

Roles and permissions in Manage#

Manage permissions are collected into PLM roles, each tied to one workspace and composed of permissions. Roles are assigned to groups (Admin > Groups > Add PLM workspace access), and group members inherit them. Standard change-management roles exist for problem reports, change requests, change orders, change tasks and change approval templates, mostly in [R] and [R/W] forms. Approval permission on a change request or change order is granted per record at runtime to its coordinator and approvers rather than as a separate role you stack on top. This is more granular than Fusion project roles but separate from them; keep your group names consistent across the two systems.

The Fusion integration#

With Fusion Manage enabled, you can:

• Assign an item number to a design or drawing, with a numbering scheme configured by an administrator (Assign Item Number in the BOM More menu, or the Manage tab).
• See item number, revision, lifecycle and State in the Properties panel and History.
• Release with Quick Release (Unreleased to Pre-Production without a change order, no reviewers or approval) or with a change order (required for Production and Obsolete).
• Review and approve change orders in the Fusion web client; hub members you invite or deactivate appear in or disappear from reviewer and approver lists.
• Use Manage properties in the BOM and on drawings.

Which attributes sync and whether the BOM can be pushed to Manage are not described in the mirrored help beyond the above. Autodesk notes that the latest version of a design open in Fusion is what is sent to a change order.

A typical flow: releasing a part#

1. The designer finishes the part, saves, and Assigns Item Number to the design (and drawing).
2. For a first release to Pre-Production, use Quick Release: no change order, no approval; the item becomes Revision 1 in Pre-Production.
3. To release to Production, create a change order (optionally generated from an approved change request), add the design item and drawing as affected items, and describe the change.
4. The change-order workflow routes it through review and approval by the coordinator and approvers selected for it; the State shows Pending release while it is under review.
5. On approval the items become Released at the next lifecycle state with a lettered revision (for example A), and a previous release becomes Superseded.
6. Each further change to a Production item repeats from step 3 with a new change order. To retire an item, use a change order to move it to Obsolete.

General cloud PDM concepts#

Concepts typical of cloud PDM tools in general (general guidance, not Autodesk data) that differ from plain Fusion:

• CAD plugin with check-in/out. Designers check files out, edit, and check in a new revision; locks prevent concurrent edits. (Fusion's nearest feature is Design Reservation.)
• Single data model for parts and BOMs. A part exists once, with its metadata, no matter how many assemblies use it.
• Revision-controlled releases. Revisions are explicit and never overwritten.
• Workflow and approvals. Release gates, with role-based approval.
• Supplier collaboration and cost rollups, in some products.

Whether you need that depends on your size. The decision framework below helps.

Do you need a PDM or PLM?#

Signals that you have outgrown convention: engineers argue about which revision is current, parts are duplicated with different numbers, change history is reconstructed from emails, purchasing buys obsolete parts, or customers ask for traceability you cannot show.

Implementation advice#

1. Define the process on paper first. Draw the lifecycle and approvals, then configure the tool to match. Do not accept defaults you do not understand.
2. Start small. Items, BOMs and a single change order workflow. Add quality and supplier workspaces later.
3. Decide the numbering scheme once. Make numbers meaningless (sequential) or semantic but short.
4. Clean the data before importing. Duplicate parts and bad names carry into the new system.
5. Train the people who release, not only those who design.
6. Pilot with one product. Fix the friction before rolling out.
7. Plan the administrator. Someone must own configuration, users, scripts and upgrades.
8. Keep an exit plan. Ensure you can export items, BOMs and attachments.

Options reference#

Tips and pitfalls#

Tip: Fusion Manage already marks "revision milestones" at item-number assignment and at release to Pre-Production or Production. Keep your own version descriptions consistent with the item revision (for example REV B) so anyone can find the CAD state behind a release.

Tip: Run a "paper pilot": process three real changes by hand using the planned workflow before configuring software.

Warning: A PLM tool amplifies your process, good or bad. Automating a confused release process yields confused automated releases.

Warning: Autodesk's current help uses "Fusion Manage" (formerly Fusion 360 Manage) and "PLM" appears in some UI labels such as PLM Roles and PLM workspace access. Older documentation and blog posts may use other names.

Warning: Fusion Manage needs its own license, and only works in an organisation hub, not a personal hub. Do not plan a workflow your licences cannot support.

Practice exercise#

Define on paper a release process for a small product with three parts and one assembly. List: the lifecycle states, who can move each transition, what triggers a revision, how part numbers are generated, and what artefacts (STEP, PDF, BOM) are produced at release. Then decide, using the table above, whether plain Fusion conventions or a PLM are appropriate, and justify in three sentences. Expected result: a one-page process description that could be implemented either with Fusion versions and a release folder, or with Fusion Manage.

Related#

• Versions, Milestones and Lifecycle States (this section)
• Roles and Permissions (this section)
• Branching and Merging (this section)
• Admin Console and Team Best Practices (this section)