Think of the frustration of hitting every stop light at rush hour: Accelerate, slow, stop. Accelerate, slow, stop. That’s what it’s like to work with file-based data today. You create part of a design. Convert it. Wait for your collaborator. Repeat. Now, think of the ease of coasting through well-timed green lights. They’re connected. Automated. Efficient. 

That’s the experience that our Manufacturing (MFG) Data Model API now offers to Autodesk Fusion users. With the new API, you have granular access to manufacturing design data from Autodesk Fusion, freeing you to connect your data. Automate it. And collaborate more efficiently.  

This release is part of a sea change. File-based collaboration has reached its limits. Uploads, downloads, conversions, attachments, emails—they all drain time, confuse versions, require manual data reentry, become outdated, and cause errors.  

We’re quickly moving toward an era of data-based collaboration, and the MFG Data Model API is the new way to unite teams today.  

Data-first collaboration from design to make  

The MFG Data Model API gives you a direct line to our data model, which serves as a hub for your product design and manufacturing data. Here, your designs become the central point of collaboration from which you can access and share fine-grained data down to the component level—a design’s mass, volume, density, and material names and part numbers. Now, you can move the right data at the right time to the right people, based on their need and authorization.  

The data is live, so you know you’re always using the latest information. It’s viewable in the context of the model but doesn’t require CAD expertise or even CAD software. It’s extensible. You can use our API to connect data to other applications like ERPs, CRMs, and lifecycle analysis tools.  And it’s flexible, so you can enrich the model with additional information.  

Now imagine all the ways the data can flow…without getting stuck at traffic lights. You could test different designs, while connected to a lifecycle analysis tool that calculates environmental impact…without toggling between applications.  

You could share a bill of materials (BOM) with a procurement manager, who could view the BOM in the context of a live model…without converting designs to PDFs and copying data into spreadsheets.  

The procurement manager could feed into the model information like cost, stock availability, and supplier information…without re-creating data in different forms for different collaborators.  

Every seamless connection of data represents time saved and errors prevented. Across a project lifecycle, the productivity gains could be significant. 

Streamlined workflows available today  

Our partners in the manufacturing industry are quickly embracing this new way of working.  

Take OpenBOM, a company focused on streamlining BOM management. OpenBOM used the MFG Data Model API to create a web-based experience that makes its comprehensive BOM workflows available directly inside Fusion. Or, if OpenBOM is your native environment, you can interact with Fusion designs without leaving OpenBOM.  

The tight integration gives designers and non-technical users the real-time granular data needed for procurement from your preferred application, without the need to install additional software. This kind of flexibility will be the hallmark of data-first collaboration. And, as OpenBOM co-founder Oleg Shivolitsky notes, every stakeholder will benefit. 

“This integration promises to streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and make life easier for designers, engineers, production planners, supply chain, and procurement people,” said Shivolitsky. 

Making the most of your data in the future 

This API release sets the stage for you to get more out of your data. Today, a lot of data goes to waste because it’s disconnected and inconsistent, rendering it unusable. In fact, 68 percent of data goes unleveraged for automation or insights.  

So what’s possible if you can standardize and connect granular data? 

When data is connected, you can automate many of the processes that involve data re-entry and other manual work. And you can refocus your people on higher-value tasks.  

Granular data is also the foundation for valuable insights. You can analyze customer behaviors and product performance for trends in product demand. You can leverage environmental impact data at the earliest stages of product design when you can have the greatest impact on outcomes. And you can view real-time operational data points, supply chain fluctuations, or production capacity needs for better forecasting. 

And last, but far from least, data enables you to take advantage of AI. Usable, organized, and connected data is the foundation for unlocking AI and exponentially accelerating engineering and design processes from initial concepts to final production.  

In this increasingly connected future, I wonder if there are stoplights at all—or just an open road for those willing to take it.  

Want to learn more about what you can do with the MFG Data Model API? Visit Autodesk Platform Services to learn more.