TDW DigitalM-Files Book a walkthrough
M-Files for Manufacturing

Stop building to outdated drawings. Stop chasing email confirmations.

M-Files for Manufacturing gives South African manufacturers one governed source of truth for engineering changes and supplier document exchange. It's pre-configured, so it's live in weeks, not months, inside the Microsoft 365 your team already uses.

Book a 30-minute walkthrough

Official M-Files partner in South AfricaGartner Magic Quadrant Leader, Document Management 2026

  • Leader, 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Document Management1
  • Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice, 94% would recommend2
  • Forrester TEI: up to 65% less time searching for documents3
  • Official M-Files partner, South Africa

1. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Document Management, 2026. 2. Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice. 3. Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study of M-Files, commissioned by M-Files.

The problem

Every plant has a version of this week.

01

The superseded drawing

Engineering approves Rev D on Tuesday. Rev C is still printed at the machine. By Friday, 400 parts are finished: every one in tolerance, every one scrap. One wrong-revision rework routinely runs to six figures.

02

The transmittal dispute

"We never got the new revision." The email trail is ambiguous, the parts are already made, and the conversation turns to who pays.

03

The audit-prep fire drill

A week before the inspection, someone is rebuilding change records from email archives and a spreadsheet register.

None of these are people problems. They happen between people, at the moment a document changes hands.

The handoffs

PLM controls the design. Nothing controls the handoff.

Follow one engineering change through your plant. It rarely goes wrong in one dramatic moment. It goes wrong in small ways, every time it changes hands.

  1. 1

    Request

    Today
    The customer's change lands in three inboxes

    With M-Files
    One change request, linked to the part, drawing, customer and order

  2. 2

    Review

    Today
    Two engineers approve two different Rev Ds

    With M-Files
    One locked revision, one consolidated approval path

  3. 3

    Release to the floor

    Today
    Rev C stays printed at the machine

    With M-Files
    Release locked to the approved revision; the old one is withdrawn

  4. 4

    Supplier

    Today
    "We never got it," and the email trail can't settle it

    With M-Files
    A tracked transmittal, acknowledged against a deadline

  5. 5

    Audit

    Today
    A day of digging through inboxes

    With M-Files
    One record with the full trail, in minutes

Which handoff costs you most? Book a 30-minute walkthrough

How it works

Two pre-configured use cases. One governed platform.

Engineering Change Control

Approve against the right revision, every time.

  • The change record is locked to the exact revision under review.
  • Concurrent change requests go through one consolidated approval path, with no silent conflicts.
  • Reviewers see every open comment in one place.
  • Approvals are timestamped and release is locked to that revision.
  • Evidence sits on the change: technical basis, safety impact, authorisation, training and updated procedures.

For: Engineering Leads, Document Controllers, Plant Engineers.

Transmittal Management

Know what every supplier has, and when they got it.

  • Purpose-coded transmittal packages replace email attachments.
  • Every acknowledgement is tracked against an SLA.
  • A real-time transmittal register replaces the spreadsheet.
  • Suppliers see only their own transmittals through a permission-isolated portal, never your internal vault.
  • Every exchange is logged.

For: Document Controllers, Project Managers, Supply Chain.

Chemical, oil and gas, or pharma? Together, the two cover the full governed change-and-exchange cycle.

See both on your own documents

Outcomes

What changes when your documents are governed

From chaos to clarity

One governed source of truth. Every change and exchange is tied to the exact revision it governs.

Short cycles

Pre-configured, not custom-built, so it's live in weeks, not months.

Always audit-ready

Evidence is captured as the work happens, and the trail for any change is ready in minutes.

Trusted AI on governed data

One official revision for every person and every tool.

Fits your stack

Keep your PLM and ERP. Close the gap around them.

SharePoint stores documents. M-Files governs them. PLM serves engineers well, but Document Controllers, Compliance Officers and Supplier Quality Engineers work outside it every day, and that's where revisions slip. M-Files runs natively in Teams, SharePoint and Outlook, so there's no new app for your internal team.

Engineer reviewing a governed drawing revision on screen

Which revision is official? Your AI will need to know.

AI is arriving inside CAD, PLM and ERP. It will produce drawings and changes faster than any team has before. More versions make one question matter more than ever, and only a governed vault can answer it. M-Files is built to be the source of truth those tools rely on.

Who it's for

Built for the people who live with the drawings

Document Controller

Today

Spreadsheet transmittal registers and audit trails rebuilt from email.

With M-Files

No unacknowledged transmittal past its SLA, and the full trail for any change in minutes.

ChemicalOil and gasPharmaceuticalMedical devicesEPCIndustrial machineryAny manufacturer that authorises engineering changes
Proof

The case in numbers

65%

Up to 65% less time searching for documents

Forrester TEI
75%

Faster specialised workflows

Forrester TEI
Leader

2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Document Management

Gartner
Six figures

What one wrong-revision rework routinely costs

Industry estimate
Why TDW

Your M-Files partner in South Africa

TDW Digital is an official M-Files partner and part of The Document Warehouse group. We scope, configure and implement M-Files, train your team, manage the change and support you after go-live.

If M-Files is more than you need, we'll tell you, and show you a simpler option.

Machinist checking an engineering drawing against a finished part on a South African plant floor
Harrie Terblanche
“With M-Files, manufacturers now have a level of insight, accessibility and collaboration never seen before.”
Harrie Terblanche, Chief Executive Officer, TDW Digital

Running ISO audits, CAPA or nonconformance reports?

That's M-Files for Quality, a separate solution on the same platform for document control, CAPA, nonconformance and audit management.

See M-Files for Quality
FAQ

Questions manufacturers ask

Do we have to replace our PLM or ERP?

No. M-Files for Manufacturing complements them. It governs the documents people work with outside PLM: change packages, supplier exchanges and the evidence trail.

Do we need Microsoft 365?

Yes. M-Files for Manufacturing runs natively in Microsoft 365, in Teams, SharePoint and Outlook.

Is it cloud or on-premise?

It's delivered as an M-Files cloud service. If you run M-Files on-premise today, we'll map the move to the cloud.

How long does it take to go live?

Both use cases are pre-configured, so it's weeks, not months. We'll give you a timeline for your plant in the walkthrough.

Will suppliers need access to our systems?

No. They receive transmittals through a permission-isolated portal and see only what you send them, never your internal vault.

We already use SharePoint. Isn't that enough?

SharePoint stores documents. M-Files governs them: it locks changes to the revision under review, stops work against unapproved drawings and keeps a full trail.

Does it use AI?

The M-Files platform includes Aino, its built-in AI assistant. More importantly, M-Files is built to be the governed source of truth AI tools can rely on.

Is it right for a business our size?

It's built for mid-market and enterprise manufacturers. If you're smaller, or not on Microsoft 365, we'll recommend what fits.

What about quality management and CAPA?

That's M-Files for Quality. Ask us about it above, or in your walkthrough.

How is our data protected?

M-Files holds ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2 certifications, and TDW works within POPIA.

What does it cost?

It depends on users, sites and scope. There are two packages, Essentials and Enterprise, and we'll give you a clear quote after the walkthrough.

Book a walkthrough

See it working on your own documents

30 minutes with a TDW M-Files specialist. Bring one recent engineering change or supplier dispute and we'll walk it through M-Files.

  • Your biggest handoff risk identified
  • A live view of both use cases
  • A realistic timeline and package for your plant

No deck. No obligation.

Rather talk now? Call +27 11 478 5443.

Step 1 of 2

Book a 30-min walkthrough

POPIA

Privacy policy

Last updated: 23 October 2026

1. Who we are

This page is operated by The Document Warehouse Digital (Pty) Ltd ("TDW Digital", "we", "us"), 5 Krag St, Selby South, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa. We are the responsible party for the personal information you share with us here, under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

2. What we collect

  • What you tell us: your name, work email, company, role, phone number (optional), industry, biggest document-control challenge, whether you use Microsoft 365, your timeline, your number of sites, and any notes.
  • How you use this page: only if you accept analytics or marketing cookies. This covers pages viewed, the buttons you click, your device and browser type, and the campaign that brought you here.

We don't ask for special personal information, such as health, religious or biometric information, or for information about children. Please don't include any in your notes.

3. Why we use it

  • To respond to your request and arrange your M-Files for Manufacturing walkthrough.
  • To send you information about M-Files and related solutions, if you've agreed to this.
  • To understand how this page performs and improve it, if you've accepted analytics cookies.

We process your information with your consent, to take steps you've asked for before a possible contract, and in our legitimate interest in responding to business enquiries.

4. Cookies

Necessary cookies keep this page and its forms working. Analytics (Google Analytics 4) and marketing cookies (the LinkedIn Insight Tag) only load if you accept them. You can change your choice at any time under .

5. Who we share it with

We don't sell your personal information. We share it only with:

  • service providers who process it on our behalf under a written agreement, such as our form-handling provider (Web3Forms), our analytics and advertising providers, and our email and CRM tools
  • M-Files Corporation, if it's needed to scope or license your solution, and only with your knowledge
  • anyone we're required to share it with by law.

6. Information sent outside South Africa

Some of our service providers store information on servers outside South Africa. When this happens, we make sure the recipient is bound by laws or agreements that protect your information to a standard substantially similar to POPIA, as section 72 requires.

7. How long we keep it

Enquiry details are kept for as long as we need them to respond to you and manage our relationship with you, and then deleted or de-identified, unless the law requires us to keep them longer.

8. How we protect it

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse, and unauthorised access or disclosure. These include encrypted connections, access controls and confidentiality agreements.

9. Your rights

You can ask us to:

  • confirm whether we hold your personal information, and give you a copy
  • correct or delete it
  • stop using it, or stop sending you marketing.

You can unsubscribe from marketing at any time, using the link in any email or by contacting us.

10. Contact and complaints

For any privacy request, contact our Information Officer, [Name], at [privacy@tdwdigital.com], or call +27 11 478 5443. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

11. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.