Vault for Manufacturing – Creating Categories and Rules

Autodesk Vault is product data management software that integrates with Autodesk design tools and other CAD systems. It organizes data creation and documentation to keep everyone working from a central source of organized data. Vault provides design file management and helps improve collaboration and streamline workflows for engineering, manufacturing and extended project teams.

Using Vault you can:

• Automate design and engineering processes.
• Control what people can access and edit.
• Track revisions and design history.

In his November 15 Applied Software, Graitec Group webinar, Dave Morse explained and demonstrated how to create categories and the rules for enhanced automation and security.

Out-of-the-box Vault categories include: engineering, office, standard, and design representation. Morse explained that adding categories can enhance your security, automation and configuration in Vault. The companion rules, needed so the automation can be applied to the categories, include lifecycle definitions and revision schemes.

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If you’re curious about how other companies have implemented Vault, check out the Applied Software, Graitec Group case study, “Vault Implementation for Mesa Associates, Inc.”

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Morse suggested you can create additional file categories to fit your company’s circumstances, and he demonstrated how to do that during the webinar. The process includes:

1. Create file categories.
   • Engineering
   • Content Center
   • Libraries
   • Templates

2. Create rules for the categories.
   • Engineering – File name ends with one of the following: ipt, iam, ipn, idw, or dwg
   • Content center – User defined property is Content Center (CC) Part; File Name ends with ipt; and create a Folder Path that starts with $/Content Center Files/en-US
   • Libraries – File Name ends with ipt or iam; and create a Folder Path that starts with $/Libraries
   • Templates – File Name ends with one of the following: ipt, iam, ipn, idw, or dwg; and create a Folder Path that starts with $/_Templates

3. Re-order the rules so they make sense for Vault to process the properties correctly. Assignment rules are important. If a rule does not meet all the requirements listed above in #2, Vault will skip it and proceed to the next rule.
   • Content Center Parts
   • Templates
   • Libraries
   • Engineering

4. Create hidden Project files for Templates and Libraries editing. Making them hidden controls security. 
   • Create an Administratively controlled IPJ (project) file for each category of files (example: Templates and Libraries). Be sure to point the Workspace to the appropriate folder in order to upload and edit those categorized files.
   • Map the folders to Vault folder locations so it knows where to put them in Vault.
   • Assign Security for each and limit access to administrators or specific editors. This is important because typically and traditionally, Vault should have only one project file in it. Don’t introduce confusion to general users by having multiple project files that can accidentally be selected as data is added to the Vault.

5. Test your setup to make sure it works the way you want.

Products can be developed faster with better collaboration when your team uses Autodesk Vault. For improved data management and manufacturing team collaboration, Vault is known as the go-to tool, with features that range from enhanced permissions to engineering productivity.

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Having a Vault data standard enables a standardized workflow across applications. To learn more, register today for Dave Morse’s January webinar, “Vault Data Standard: Directing Users, Organizing Data, Ensuring Compliance.”

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