It looks it's a constantly disscussed subject.
Some of the conditions we want are both to lock the files and Items so Item BOM is not changing.
The "Apply Item security on related files" is almost the function we want, but the lifecycle states are unfortunatelly fixed to 4.
Its not locking reference files either. A huge dissadvantage when reference files are used for skeleton modelling.
How are you using lifecycles in vault?
1. Anyone using both Item and File lifecycle separately? Where File lifecycle locks drawings and related files, and the Item lifecycle locks BOM-structure only?
2. Item lifecycle with the "Apply Item security on related files"- function? (Item lifecycle controls the file lock status)
3. Only Item lifecycle that locks the BOM? Files are not locked.
4. Only File Lifecycle that locks files only? How can we be sure that the BOM is not changing by an accidentaly update?
I also refer to this old post: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Vault-General/Revision-Control-only-on-Items-Vault-Pro-2012/m-p/321547...
We use Item lifecycles only. When an Item is set to Released, any files associated with it are locked in Project Explorer. Files may not be unlocked or set to WIP unless through an Engineering Change Order. We are not using BOM's right now... only drawings are set to Items (baby steps). So I can't say what this does to a BOM.
My 2 cents worth.
Chris Benner
Inventor Tube & Pipe, Vault Professional
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In that case you are using the 2nd version I mentioned. And you are locking the BOM-structure in Item Master. So far so good.
But I can see a couple of problem scenarios in front of me:
- Associated reference files (and phantoms) are not locked in Project Explorer.
- Suppose you want to attach the same pdf or xls or any other document for that matter to several different Items. All Items can then controll that attachments lock status. (Maybe this is a good thing since you dont need to find the first Item where that attachment was made)
- It will be a missmatch between Item and file revisions. Item BOM structure will be exported to ERP. But drawings can then have different revision :(.
Autodesk thought I didn't understand the difference between file and item lifecycle so they emaild me this link:
http://help.autodesk.com/view/VAULT/2014/ENU/?guid=GUID-25DCBA63-A602-4093-93F7-A35116B6BE53
I was not looking for the help pages. 😛 I know where they are. They are pretty good in some cases, but this time I was asking about which lifecycles are recommended, and how you others are using it.
Thanks for the detailed answer tmoney2007. Very appreciated!
At the moment we are using Vault in the same matter. We have lifecycle on file level and using Item Master to export BOM.
Why aren't you using Agile PLM for other Vault functionalities (as Project Explorer). It doesn't have it?
We have engineering inhouse but production outsourced, so we need to export data on regular basis. You say that Vault is not enough alone?
Or Vault is not got at all?
Conceptually, the Engineering Connector for Agile (their file management module) is slightly different. The user doesn't interact with files in the same way as with vault. The files are attached to objects within the system. Rather than the files being the focus, objects (parts and documents) are what is transacted and put through workflows, which is kind of what the Vault Item Master does. The problem is that it isn't configurable enough to fully take over that job.
We are an Engineer to Order company in an industry that requires certified designs. Because of this, we have a large set of standards that are used as the basis for customer jobs. We do a huge volume of design work (possibly 5000 new design files a week was one figure I heard) and we fabricate primarily in house. So most of our interfaces are automated and another place vault comes up short (in our experience) is in the API's for those kinds of integrations and the job processor.
If you are primarily creating content then putting it out, and you don't have alot of people needing to access live data in the vault (manufacturing groups and the like) Vault can probably be made to work fine. It's really an engineering tool, whereas one of the things PLM is really good for is providing the interaction space for all interested parties. We have the opportunity to bring manufacturing and procurement (among others) into the loop, which is a big plus, but it requires configurability.
We're making it work by taking as many responsibilities away from Vault as we can, and letting Agile do it. We use file lifecycles for file security, and to trigger the integration. Item master get's used to make the BOMs available to the integration. Everything else is controlled by workflows in Agile.
Personally, I would've rather just let Agile manage the files, and work with the company that made the connector to improve it, but... I didn't get to make that decision.
Thanks again for the detailed answer. Its a lot of usefull information. It looks like we are not the only ones who struggles with CAD/PDM/PLM/ERP integration and put the whole business process in place :s.
So you only use Item Master for BOM-list. You dont attach any pdf or other docs there? All that is done in Agile?
And all the detailed metadata for procurement and manufacturing. Is it done in Agile also?
cbenner - how do you get Vault to correctly open historical versions of files? We're using Item only, but I am thinking of adding File Lifecycle on the hope that when we go to open old versions of assemblies, it will pull in the correct old versions of the sub-components.