Question 1

What is ProductFlo?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo is the orchestration layer for mission-critical hardware engineering. It builds a live graph over your schematics, firmware, CAD, and BOMs, and AI agents check every change against that graph — so bad hardware changes get stopped before they ship. Agents propose diffs; humans approve.

Question 2

Who is ProductFlo built for?

Accepted Answer

Hardware engineering teams of 5–200 people — startups, consulting firms, design studios, and enterprise teams shipping physical products. If your team juggles CAD, BOMs, ECOs, and cross-discipline reviews, ProductFlo is for you.

Question 3

How is ProductFlo different from existing PLM tools?

Accepted Answer

Legacy PLM is a system of record — it stores documents. ProductFlo is the system of work on top: a live engineering graph plus a merge gate that checks every change across disciplines before it ships. No migration, no rip-and-replace — it layers over the tools you already use.

Question 4

Do I need to replace my existing tools?

Accepted Answer

No. ProductFlo integrates with your existing CAD, EDA, and development tools through in-host plugins and APIs. It adds a collaboration and automation layer on top of your current workflow rather than replacing it.

Question 5

What industries does ProductFlo support?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo serves any team building physical products — consumer electronics, medical devices, robotics, aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, and more. The platform adapts to your industry-specific workflows and compliance requirements.

Question 6

Is ProductFlo available internationally?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo is a cloud-based platform available globally. Enterprise customers with ITAR or data sovereignty requirements can deploy on their own infrastructure.

Question 7

How does the AI work?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo uses a multi-agent architecture. Specialized agents handle specific tasks (BOM validation, impact analysis, compliance checks) and operate on a unified engineering graph. Every output includes a confidence score — no black boxes.

Question 8

What file formats does ProductFlo support?

Accepted Answer

Shipping plugins cover SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion 360, KiCad, Windchill, Arena, and GitHub for firmware and code, plus a REST API / SDK / MCP for anything else. The browser viewer opens standard formats — STEP, IGES, STL, Gerber, PDF — without a CAD license. Altium, Creo, and Inventor plugins are in development.

Question 9

Can ProductFlo handle BOM management?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo provides multi-level BOM structures with real-time supplier data, revision comparison, component lifecycle tracking, and automated BOM validation against design files.

Question 10

Does ProductFlo support change management?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo includes automated ECR/ECO workflows with full traceability. Every design change is tracked, reviewed, and approved before implementation, with impact analysis powered by the engineering graph.

Question 11

What are ProductFlo's AI agents?

Accepted Answer

Specialized agents that watch your engineering graph — schematics, firmware, CAD, and BOMs — and flag cross-discipline impacts before a change ships. They run checks like BOM validation, pin-map validation, and clash detection, and every finding is routed to the right owner as a reviewable diff.

Question 12

Do the agents change our designs automatically?

Accepted Answer

Never. Agents propose diffs; humans approve. Every agent output is a scoped, reviewable diff — no commits, no silent edits. Dry-run mode is on by default, and scoped tokens limit the blast radius to one product or one rev.

Question 13

Can the agents draft design changes?

Accepted Answer

Yes — as proposals, not commits. An agent can draft a footprint swap, a pin reassignment, or a BOM substitution as a diff for an engineer to review. Nothing ships without human approval at the merge gate.

Question 14

Do the agents replace engineering judgment?

Accepted Answer

No. Agents do the exhaustive cross-checking across disciplines; engineers make the calls. Every consequential change waits at the merge gate for human approval. The system amplifies engineering expertise — it does not replace it.

Question 15

How does real-time collaboration work?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo provides shared workspaces where team members can view, comment, and collaborate on designs in real time. Contextual markup stays attached to the design — not lost in email or chat threads.

Question 16

Can I view CAD files without installing CAD software?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo includes a browser-based viewer for 3D CAD, PCB layouts, schematics, and documents. Your entire team can review designs without needing expensive CAD licenses.

Question 17

How does version control work?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo provides intelligent version control for all engineering files. Every change is tracked with full history, diff views for CAD files, and branching/merging workflows familiar to software developers.

Question 18

How long does onboarding take?

Accepted Answer

Most teams see the graph on their own BOM within the first week of the pilot. The 30-day pilot includes a named solutions engineer who handles setup and integration with your existing tools.

Question 19

Do I need technical expertise to use ProductFlo?

Accepted Answer

No. ProductFlo is designed for engineers, not IT administrators. The interface is intuitive, and the AI copilot accepts natural language commands. If you can use a web browser, you can use ProductFlo.

Question 20

Is there a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo is a responsive web application that works on tablets and phones for review and approval workflows. The full design workspace is optimized for desktop browsers.

Question 21

What browsers are supported?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo works in all modern browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. We recommend Chrome for the best experience with 3D viewer features.

Question 22

Can I use ProductFlo offline?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo requires an internet connection for real-time collaboration and AI features. Enterprise customers can deploy a local instance for air-gapped environments.

Question 23

Is there an API?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo provides a API and SDK for integrating with your existing tools, CI/CD pipelines, ERP systems, and custom workflows. API documentation is available for all plan tiers.

Question 24

What does the pilot include?

Accepted Answer

The pilot is scoped to one active product with up to 3 source-tool integrations. You get weekly reviews with your team, a named solutions engineer, and zero lock-in. The pilot fee credits toward your annual plan.

Question 25

Can I try ProductFlo for free?

Accepted Answer

We don't offer a free tier, but the 30-day pilot is designed to prove value quickly with zero migration and zero lock-in. If it doesn't work for you, you walk away.

Question 26

How is pricing structured?

Accepted Answer

Simple: a fixed $8k 30-day pilot, then the Team plan from $48k/year. Enterprise (self-host, compliance, volume) is custom-priced. The pilot fee credits toward your annual plan.

Question 27

Are there volume discounts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Teams over 25 seats qualify for volume pricing. Contact our sales team for a custom quote tailored to your organization.

Question 28

Can I change plans later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades apply at the next billing cycle.

Question 29

What payment methods do you accept?

Accepted Answer

We accept all major credit cards for Starter and Professional plans. Enterprise plans can be invoiced with net-30 terms.

Question 30

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We have completed a SOC 2 Type I audit and offer encryption at rest and in transit, RBAC with SCIM provisioning, and full audit logs. Enterprise customers can self-host on their own infrastructure for ITAR/HIPAA requirements.

Question 31

Who owns my data?

Accepted Answer

You do. Your engineering data belongs to you. We never use customer data to train AI models. You can export all your data at any time in standard formats.

Question 32

Does ProductFlo use my data to train AI?

Accepted Answer

No. Customer data is never used for model training. Our AI models are trained on public engineering knowledge and synthetic datasets. Your proprietary designs stay private.

Question 33

Can I self-host ProductFlo?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Enterprise customers can deploy ProductFlo on their own infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP, or on-premise) for ITAR, HIPAA, or data sovereignty requirements.

Question 34

What compliance certifications does ProductFlo have?

Accepted Answer

ProductFlo has completed a SOC 2 Type I audit. Enterprise deployments can be configured for ITAR, HIPAA, and FedRAMP compliance. Contact our security team for detailed compliance documentation.

Question 35

What support is included?

Accepted Answer

All plans include email support and access to our knowledge base. Professional plans add priority support with 4-hour SLA. Enterprise plans include a dedicated solutions engineer and 24/7 support.

Question 36

Is there a community or forum?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProductFlo has an active community forum where users share workflows, templates, and best practices. We also host monthly webinars and an annual hardware engineering conference.

Question 37

Do you offer training?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We provide onboarding training for all new teams, plus ongoing webinars and documentation. Enterprise customers get customized training products for their specific workflows.

Question 38

How do I report a bug or request a feature?

Accepted Answer

You can report bugs and request features through the in-app feedback widget, our community forum, or by contacting support directly. We publish a public roadmap and regularly incorporate user feedback.

Question 39

What tools does ProductFlo integrate with?

Accepted Answer

Shipping now: GitHub, SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion 360, KiCad, Windchill, and Arena, plus a REST API / SDK / MCP for anything else. The Altium, Creo, and Inventor plugins are in development.

Question 40

What does the 30-day pilot include?

Accepted Answer

The pilot is scoped to one active product with up to 3 source-tool integrations. A named solutions engineer builds the graph on your own BOM in week one, and agents are running in production by week three. Fixed $8k, fixed scope, zero lock-in. If it proves value, the fee credits toward your annual plan — book a scoping call to start.

Question 41

How is pilot success measured?

Accepted Answer

Jointly, on a written scorecard: what we connect, what we measure, and what success looks like. Our public pilot success criteria are published at productflo.io/pilot-success-criteria — the same document your solutions engineer works from.

Question 42

How fast do we see first value?

Accepted Answer

First value inside an hour — agents start flagging real issues on your artefacts almost immediately. The full graph on one product lands in week one; agents run in production by week three.

Question 43

What does ProductFlo cost?

Accepted Answer

The pilot is a fixed $8k for 30 days. The Team plan starts at $48k/year for 10–50 hardware engineers. Enterprise (self-host, compliance, volume) is custom-priced. Design-partner pricing is locked through 2027.

Question 44

What is the 74% ECO cycle-time claim based on?

Accepted Answer

Pilot teams cut ECO cycle time by 74% in the first month. We publish our full measurement methodology — sample, window, and definitions — at productflo.io/eco-methodology so you can judge the number for yourself.

Question 45

What is the merge gate?

Accepted Answer

The merge gate is ProductFlo’s core rule: no hardware change ships until every affected discipline has been checked and a human has approved the diff. Agents cross-check the change against the full engineering graph; humans make the final call.

Question 46

What is the reconciliation tax?

Accepted Answer

The reconciliation tax is the hidden engineering cost of keeping mechanical, electrical, firmware, and manufacturing data consistent by hand — the meetings, spreadsheets, rework, and slipped launches. ProductFlo exists to eliminate it. Read the full definition at productflo.io/glossary/reconciliation-tax.

Question 47

Which integrations are available today?

Accepted Answer

Shipping now: GitHub, SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion 360, KiCad, Arena, and Windchill, plus a REST API / SDK / MCP for any other tool. The Altium plugin is in development (2026). Cadence and SAP/ERP bridges are on the roadmap.

Question 48

Do we need to migrate our PLM?

Accepted Answer

No. ProductFlo is a layer above your PLM, not a replacement for it. We index your existing artefacts in place — your CAD vault, PCB repo, BOM sheets, firmware repos — and build the graph from what you already have.

Question 49

What artefacts does ProductFlo index?

Accepted Answer

Schematics and PCB layouts (Altium, KiCad, Gerber), 3D CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, CATIA, NX, CREO, STEP, IGES, STL), firmware and code (via Git), BOMs and supplier data, and standard documents. The graph connects them across disciplines.

Question 50

How does ProductFlo handle ITAR or export-controlled data?

Accepted Answer

Enterprise customers can self-host ProductFlo on their own infrastructure, so artefacts never leave your environment. Self-host mode is designed for ITAR/EAR and other data-sovereignty requirements, with full audit logging.

Frequently Asked Questions