What can Autodesk Vault do?

The biggest challenge for any modern engineering and manufacturing business that creates engineering designs using Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD is the effective management of data. Without an integrated data management solution, designers and engineers can be left fighting an uphill battle – often leading to messy engineering files, costly errors, regular re-work and poor design outcomes. Why not thinking about Autodesk Vault as a way to store and manage your engineering data?

If you’re currently in the process of deciding how to store and manage your design data, then these are the questions you might be asking:

Where should I store my data – local folders, OneDrive, SharePoint, Autodesk Vault or another way?
How do I know where the latest modifications of my drawings and 3D models are located?
How do I know that I’m using the correct files for my design?
How do I let other teams working with me on the project know that my part of the design process is finished?
How do I control access to my data?
How do I know my data is secure?

There are probably more questions you could add to this list, but in general they all focus on the integrity of your engineering data and how this impacts your engineering processes, and business productivity and profitability.

In the following article we’ll review a number of options to help your business better understand the right way to organise, store and manage your engineering data.

We’ll also demonstrate why even a simple data management system like the free version of Autodesk Vault Basic can be far more beneficial than a simple server folder structure.

In creating our recommendations, we’ve used this list of parameters to compare the different choices:

Simplicity
Cost
Access
xRefs
Security

Document Control
Life Cycle
Mess vs Order
Preview Feature

Option One: Server folders

This is the simplest and most straightforward solution as you can simply use your laptop, desktop or company server to store all of your design data. There are several positives of with this choice:

It costs you almost nothing as you are utilising existing hardware.
Your stored data can be easily accessed by anyone in your company who has access to the server. However, remote cloud access will be more challenging.
Your data will remain secure as soon as your firewall is strong enough to keep it safe.
People can not see file change history. Regular server backups are required if you need to recover an old version.

However, there are a number of drawbacks to server folders which we’ve seen over many years when working with clients:

It’s not always easy to find the latest version of your drawing or 3D model as it can be copied to a random place under the same name. Even if your company is using strict rules for locating and saving engineering files, there’s still a risk that some of the drawings and 3D models will appear in a Temp or incorrect Working folder.
Over time the risk of having “chaos” in your folders will increase, due to file storing, file structure, file naming and employees leaving the company.
Classification of the projects, drawings and 3D models is challenging with Server Folders. In some cases instead of utilising already existing designs from other projects, you’ll continue to create everything from scratch, duplicating effort and wasting money.
Server Folders don’t allow for the proper utilisation of xRefs in your drawings and 3D models. This often becomes a major issue over time as people won’t know if new changes will impact any other designs. What if you changed a standard part for a particular design and it automatically changed everywhere it was used, potentially damaging other designs? Or some xRefs can be saved to a local disk and become missing later.
To communicate with other teams that your design is ready for use, you’ll need to create a dedicated folder where you copy your finished design and then send an email to your teammates. For this to work your processes would need to be well documented, understood and followed by everyone.
To review designs you need to open each file one by one and therefore have corresponding Autodesk software installed on your computer.

Do you want to transfer your data to Autodesk Vault?

Learn about data transfer

Option Two: Cloud Folders

Cloud Folders such as OneDrive and SharePoint are very similar to Server Folders discussed above. However, they have one significant advantage – online access is easy, so you can work remotely from any place or office location.

Option Three: Autodesk Vault

What is Autodesk Vault?

Autodesk Vault is the most widely used data management tool for modern engineering teams. It can help you and your team manage and organise your design and engineering data, accelerate collaboration and better take control of your product development processes.

Storing and managing engineering data with Autodesk Vault.

Autodesk Vault is a simple, ready-to-go solution for storing and managing engineering documentation produced in Autodesk products.
Autodesk Vault Basic option is free, while Autodesk Vault Professional has cost per user and gives more advanced options for your business. Check which Autodesk Vault version is suitable for your business.
Access is easily manageable in Autodesk Vault and guarantees the security and integrity of your data.
xRefs are managed automatically. This feature of Autodesk Vault gives a simple and precise way to manage all links between your engineering files.
Security of your data is guaranteed in Autodesk Vault. There will be no missing drawings or 3D models and access to your data will be protected.

Document control is an in-built option that allows you to easily track files history and changes. You can also see where changed files are used and whether changes should be implemented in all designs where files are used.
The life cycle feature is a major benefit of Autodesk Vault. Different users and teams don’t need to guess what stage your files are at. Autodesk Vault allows for any life cycles to be implemented in the software. Check out our Basic and Professional comparison article.
A more effective way to create order in your drawings, 3D models, projects and designs. With Autodesk Vault you can be sure that your files are organised and you easily find the designs you need.
Easy preview option that excludes the need to open every file to remind yourself what’s inside. Preview options allow you to see what’s inside, and it also allows you to rotate 3D models in the preview window.

* Note: for both options, server folder and cloud folder – all parameters are highly dependent on the way the folder’s structure is established and managed. In these systems, users’ discipline and habit to follow rules of storing files are crucial which bring significant risks to the business over time.

Why choose Autodesk Vault Basic as a minimum?

For any businesses looking to protect their engineering data, reduce inefficiencies and improve processes, then choosing the free version of Autodesk Vault Basic is a great place to start.

While Autodesk Vault Basic doesn’t include a number of features compared to the Professional version, it will still help you organise, find and reuse design data while minimising rework and repetitive tasks. It means your team won’t be second guessing if they’re using the correct files nor will they find themselves redoing designs that have already been created.

It’s all about giving you control over your designs and bringing best practices to your company’s engineering data management. Autodesk Vault Basic also has the built-in capability to support your growth, allowing you to scale up and collaborate with external teams and partners.

How to start using Autodesk Vault in your organisation

It’s simple to begin using Autodesk Vault – you need the software installed, your workflows implemented, and Autodesk Vault training completed. If you’re a new company with no legacy data to be transferred to Autodesk Vault, then no other steps are required.

If your business is moving to Autodesk Vault from the current ways of storing data in multiple places – such as OneDrive, SharePoint, server folders or other databases – you’ll need to think about moving your existing (legacy) data to Autodesk Vault in a organised way without losing links between files and preserving metadata from legacy drawing registers.

A data transfer to Autodesk Vault can be simple and painless, run over a single weekend to minimise disruption to your business and automatically clean your data before upload, removing duplicates, restoring xRefs, classifying documents and assigning lifecycles.

Modern CAD specialises in small to large data transfers to Autodesk Vault, making transition to a more secure, flexible and accessible workspace effortless, fast and simple.

Modern CAD helps organisations move to Autodesk Vault, with custom implementations that minimise disruption to your operations and ensure your users have the right knowledge from day one to get the most out of its features.

If you would like to chat with an expert about solving your current data management challenges, please get in touch today!