We would like Autodesk Vault to allow releasing an assembly as long as it references the latest released revision of its child components, even when a newer revision of a child component already exists and is still in development.
Currently, Vault's "File is not the latest" restriction prevents a parent assembly from being released if one of its children has a newer revision, even when that newer revision is still in a Work in Progress state and has not yet been released.
Why This Is a Problem
In our engineering process, it is common that:
- A child component has a released revision (for example, Revision A).
- A designer starts work on a new revision (Revision B).
- The parent assembly still references the valid released Revision A.
- The parent assembly is technically ready for release and still uses a valid released configuration.
However, before the parent assembly can be released, it must pass a peer review and approval process involving multiple stakeholders. Reviewers, approvers, and subject matter experts are often not immediately available, meaning that final approval may take days or even weeks.
During this time, engineering work should be able to continue independently on child components. Unfortunately, Vault's "File is not the latest" restriction creates a dependency between these activities and blocks the release process, even though the assembly references a fully valid released configuration.
Impact on Product Development
The current behavior hinders parallel engineering workflows:
- Parent assemblies cannot be released using a valid released configuration simply because a newer child revision is being developed.
- Child component development becomes coupled to the release timing of higher-level assemblies.
- Release approvals often require participation from multiple reviewers and approvers, and final sign-off is not always available in a timely manner.
- Designers are frequently forced to postpone work on new revisions until parent assemblies have completed their review and release process.
- Engineering teams experience unnecessary waiting times and process bottlenecks.
- Product development throughput is reduced because independent activities cannot proceed in parallel.
In practice, we frequently encounter situations where the latest released revision of a child component is fully suitable for releasing a parent assembly, while another engineer is already working on a future revision. The existence of that future revision should not prevent the release of a valid product structure.
The current implementation couples design activities that should remain independent. A parent assembly release should be based on the validity of the released configuration it references, not on the existence of a future revision that is still under development. Allowing release against the Latest Released Revision would enable true parallel engineering workflows, reduce approval-related delays, and improve overall development efficiency.
