Best PDM for Inventor

[johan.degreef]

Hello, anyone using a PDM system (other then Vault pro) and is happy with using it?

[Tom_Servo]

I have used the PDM side of Windchill for the last 4 years or so and it's doing the job. 

What deters you from using Vault Pro?

[Anonymous]

I swear by Vault, especially for Adesk environments. Why bring in a 3rd party application that can very easily have issues with the CAD files and then have to deal with 2 separate support groups? I like having a one-shop stop (or is that a "one stop shop"?). If something goes wrong that I can't fix nor find the fix, it's one call. No finger-pointing or run arounds.

Is Adesk perfect? No, of course not, but neither are the others.

My suggestion, unless you need functionality that Vault Pro simply doesn't offer, then yes, I'd consider other options. But if Vault does what you're looking to do, stay in-house and use Vault. It'll be easier on you in the long run for if and when things go south.

[johan.degreef]

@Anonymous @Tom_Servo Well we need a (Vault) system that can combine P&ID (plant 3d or smap3d alike) with equipement tagging, to link that TAG to our 3d models in Inventor, and then link specs and tech details (office documents) to all those insqtruments.

That all combined with Vault features like checkin in/out, lifecyclces.... etc

[CGBenner]

@johan.degreef 

Hello Johan.  I know you’ve been struggling with how Vault works with Plant 3D.  I had the same struggles several years ago.  The main problem, I believe, is that both Vault and Plant 3D use (separate) sql databases, so they don’t talk to each other well.  I think this same challenge might make it even harder for a third party PDM.  Like @Anonymous , this is just my opinion.  I wonder if there could be any custom solutions that you could use to make Vault work a little better with P3D.  You could also try asking your particular question in the Vault Customization forum, and see if anyone there has any programming ideas that could help.

[Tom_Servo]

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@johan.degreef wrote:

@Anonymous @Tom_Servo Well we need a (Vault) system that can combine P&ID (plant 3d or smap3d alike) with equipement tagging, to link that TAG to our 3d models in Inventor, and then link specs and tech details (office documents) to all those insqtruments.

That all combined with Vault features like checkin in/out, lifecyclces.... etc

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I want to ask what kind of issues you have had but it might be a chore to type it all out. 

If you have any issues you would want to share about Plant 3D I would really appreciate it. 

I was considering using Vault specifically for Plant 3D so if you could share any info or words of caution, that would be awesome.

[johan.degreef]

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@Tom_Servo wrote:If you have any issues you would want to share about Plant 3D I would really appreciate it. 

I was considering using Vault specifically for Plant 3D so if you could share any info or words of caution, that would be awesome.

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I never used Plant 3D in Vault. I didn't try it neither because it does not work together with Inventor (equipement tagging with link to our models). We do not use Plant 3D to do the 3d modelling.

[swalton]

We have had a good experience with the folks from CoolOrange (https://www.coolorange.com/) for custom Vault job processor stuff.  They also make software to connect Vault data to ERP systems.  If there is a Plant3d API, perhaps they can write some custom code to communicate between the two databases.  

It might be worth a chat with them to see what is possible.  

[Anonymous]

@johan.degreef 

I see. Wasn't aware of the P3D aspect. I've never worked with P3D but I semi-understand its set-up per se. It reminds me of how "well" Revit worked with Vault. One of the biggest challenges I had when I was with a reseller was getting over the hurdles of a client that used Inventor, Vault and Revit. The Revit side of things, mainly with families if I recall, were the biggest issue with Vault. Unfortunately, that was 10 odd years ago and I'm suffering from "Oldtimers disease" and can't remember the details of what had to be done, but we did get it to work well enough at that time. I know improvements have been made over the years and those issues have been solved as far as I know.

I wasn't aware P3D may have the same types of issues with Vault. @CGBenner knows more about this than I do at this point. Wish I could help more.

[CGBenner]

@johan.degreef 

I think there are two answers here.  For Inventor - Vault is definitely (in my opinion) the best PDM.  Vault was created for Inventor, and the two products have tried to maintain that relationship through the last couple of decades.

For Plant3D and P&ID,... I honestly don't know the answer to what PDM would work best.  I only know of the limitations that I personally saw several years ago when I was investigating using P&ID at my former employer (we eventually gave up on it and stayed with vanilla Acad for P&IDs).  If you'd like a little bit of a peek into the possible future of Vault and a place where you can ask some of these questions, I would suggest joining the Vault Feedback (Beta) Community.  Maybe in there, you could find a little more direction on this.  Good luck, sir!

[johan.degreef]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@johan.degreef 

I wasn't aware P3D may have the same types of issues with Vault. @CGBenner knows more about this than I do at this point. Wish I could help more.

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I find it weird I am the only one looking for P&iD TAGs and Inventor linked together.

[CGBenner]

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@johan.degreef wrote:

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I find it weird I am the only one looking for P&iD TAGs and Inventor linked together.

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To be perfectly honest, I doubt that there is any "out of the box" solution that will connect data from Plant3D directly to data in an Inventor model.  There is no connectivity between the two products.  That's why I was thinking that it might need to be be a custom application that can take your tags from P3D into Vault, and then link to Inventor models.  I'm not even certain that it is possible with a custom program.

I hate to keep pointing you to other places, but I sincerely would love to see you find a solution to this.... have you looked in the Plant3D forums?