SOLIDWORKS PDM Private AI Layer Blueprint Generator
This generator drafts an architecture plan for a private AI assistant on a SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional vault. It assumes the PDM API, not database queries, as the way in.
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SOLIDWORKS PDM Private AI Layer Blueprint Generator
1. Context
Brightline Machinery Ltd uses SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional 2024 on SQL Server Standard (On-prem server). 60 named users, 1 site(s). Target go-live: 2027-02-28.
Use cases: Find released drawings by customer, where-used, revision history, question answering over PDF specs.
Must stay on site: Customer designs under NDA, tooling drawings, cost data on data cards.
2. Components
| Component | Design for PDM Professional 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Data access path | PDM API (IEdmVault5 and related interfaces) from a small .NET service | No direct queries against the vault database from the assistant |
| Retrieval index | Local index of data card variables plus text from PDF and Office files, with version, state and folder per chunk | Incremental by file id and version |
| Model serving | Open-weight model on vLLM or Ollama, GPU: 1 x 48 GB | Local embeddings |
| Tool server | Named actions: search by variable, references, where-used, state history | Read-only |
| Identity and permissions | Folder and workflow state permissions exported as access markers; groups from directory | Re-check by API read before quoting |
| Audit | Log of user, question, files returned (id and version) and answer | Stored outside the vault server |
3. Security controls mapped to your inputs
Hosting: On-prem server. The model host has no internet route.
For Customer designs under NDA, tooling drawings, cost data on data cards.: affected folders are excluded from the index unless their permissions are mirrored and tested.
The vault database is not queried by the assistant. State changes and variable edits are not performed in phases 1 and 2; phase 3 uses the API after user approval.
4. Rollout
| Phase | Scope | Exit criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 1: Read-only | Search, references and PDF Q and A over released files | Correct on a reviewed set of 50 questions |
| 2: Drafts | Release notes, revision change summaries | Edits are minor |
| 3: Approved actions | Workflow transitions through the API with approval | Permission and audit tests pass |
5. Open questions for IT
1. Do we run replicated archive servers, and which site is authoritative for extraction? 2. Which data card variables are reliable enough to index? 3. Which folders or states must be excluded? 4. Which account runs the extraction service? 5. Can a GPU host be placed in the same network zone as the vault?
A starting plan. Check API interface names and licensing for your PDM edition and release before build.
Plan review for your PDM vault
Optional: a short written review of the generated plan with attention to permissions and data cards.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use it
Enter your PDM release, SQL Server edition and hosting. Describe the questions engineers ask today and the folders that must stay out of any index. The generated plan lists components, controls, a three-phase rollout and questions for your IT team.
The method behind it
PDM keeps its schema internal, so the plan reads data card variables and files through the API. Permissions in PDM come from users, groups, folders and workflow states, so the plan exports those into access markers and rechecks them at answer time. The model is local and open-weight.
Reading the plan
Look hardest at the permissions row and the open questions. Multi-site vaults with replication need a clear choice of which archive server extraction reads. Data card quality will limit answer quality, so a clean-up of key variables is often the real first task.
Common mistakes
Running extraction as an administrator and returning everything to everyone, and indexing latest versions without recording the workflow state. Both make later correction expensive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why avoid the vault database?
The schema is not a public contract, can change in upgrades, and queries bypass the vault's permission checks. The API is supported and applies the vault's own rules.
Does this suit a small vault?
Yes. A team of a few dozen users can run a small model on a single GPU. Small installs also benefit from simple, deterministic search over data cards before any language model is added.
Will the assistant read SLDPRT files?
Not geometry. It uses data card variables, references and text from exported documents such as PDFs.
Can it check files in or out?
That is not part of phases 1 and 2. Any write through the API in phase 3 is proposed to the user and approved before it runs.
If you want this plan reviewed for your vault and security rules, Netray can help. The generator itself needs no contact.
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