The open source PLM for hardware teams.
Cascadia is an open source platform for managing parts, BOMs, documents, and engineering changes — with isolated workspaces, clear effectivity, and none of the legacy baggage. Self-host on your own infrastructure. AGPL-3.0 licensed.
Sound Familiar?
Your "change process" is an email chain and a prayer.
You're tracking ECOs in spreadsheets, chasing approvals over email, and hoping nobody builds to the wrong revision. One missed update and the shop floor has the wrong BOM.
Your PLM costs more than it's worth.
You're paying six figures a year for a system your team avoids using. Half the data lives outside it anyway. Every configuration change requires a consultant. And you can't even see the source code.
You can't work on two changes at once without breaking things.
One ECO is in review, another is urgent — but your system forces sequential changes. So you wait, or you hack around it, and pray nothing collides.
You can't see what's actually going to get built.
Which parts are on which hull? Which revision applies to which contract? Your system can't answer that without a 30-minute deep dive.
A Better Way to Manage Change
Work on changes in parallel, not in line.
Cascadia gives every engineering change its own isolated workspace — like a branch in Git. Make changes, review them, and merge them when ready. No collisions. No waiting.
See exactly what's effective, everywhere.
Know which revision applies to which program, design, or unit — at a glance. No more cross-referencing spreadsheets to figure out what the shop floor should be building.
A complete system, not a half-measure.
Parts, documents, BOMs, requirements, workflows, file management — Cascadia handles the full configuration lifecycle. Use it as your PLM, or layer it over the one you already have.
Modern software that doesn't need a consultant to configure.
Open source, built with TypeScript and PostgreSQL. Deploy with Docker in minutes on your own infrastructure. No shared databases, no multi-tenant compromises.
Why Cascadia?
Isolated Change Workspaces
Every ECO gets its own sandbox. Review and merge changes without stepping on other work in progress. No other PLM does this.
Your Data, Your Instance
Self-host from our public GitHub repo on your own infrastructure. Your data never mingles with anyone else's. ITAR-ready from day one.
Open Source, No Strings
The full platform is on GitHub under AGPL-3.0. Self-host for free with unlimited users. No feature gating, no open-core tricks.
A Full-Featured PLM, Or Just Change Management, Your Choice
Replace your spreadsheets entirely, or orchestrate changes across an existing Teamcenter or Windchill investment.
Capable PLM, Not Enterprise PLM
Enterprise PLM vendors bundle proprietary software into their pricing — HOOPS for CAD viewing, Oracle for the database, Windows Server for hosting. You pay for all of it whether you need it or not. We use open source at every layer. That keeps costs down and gives you freedom, but it also means some things work differently.
What you're not paying for
Database
3D / CAD viewing
Server OS
Viewer seats
What that means in practice
CAD file conversions
We support common 3D formats (STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, glTF) out of the box. We don't have built-in conversion for every proprietary CAD format the way a platform bundling HOOPS licenses does.
3D viewing
You get a capable 3D viewer for standard formats, not a proprietary engineering viewer with native SolidWorks or CATIA rendering. For most teams managing change, this is plenty. If you need more, the platform is extensible.
The right trade-off
If you need native CATIA rendering and SAP integration out of the box, you need Teamcenter — and the budget that comes with it. If you need solid change management, full BOM control, and document workflows without the six-figure overhead, you're in the right place.
Built with input from defense and maritime engineering teams
Clone it. Run it. Own it.
Cascadia is free to use under AGPL-3.0. Requires Node 20+ and PostgreSQL 18+. Docker recommended.
git clone https://github.com/Cascadia-PLM/Cascadia-App
cd Cascadia-App
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run db:generate && npm run db:push && npm run db:seed
npm run devInterested in a hosted option? Reach out to kai@cascadiaplm.com.