Items and BOMs provide a common data model for managing product information across design and business systems. Items represent distinct entities in a product, while BOMs define the relationships between those entities.
Items and BOMs serve as a common currency across PDM and PLM systems, bringing parity between systems focused on managing design data and those focused on managing process data. This item-based data model improves time to market, quality, and reduces cost by providing a mature foundation for product information management.
An Item in Vault PLM refers to distinct entities that represent any physical or abstract component of a product. These could be parts, assemblies, documents, processes, electronics, software, or any other elements integral to the product lifecycle.
Items serve as the building blocks of the product structure and organize and track all relevant information associated with a product. Each Item has a unique identifier (item number or part number) and can include:
A Bill of Materials (BOM) defines the hierarchical structure of a product by listing all the Items required to manufacture or assemble it. The BOM tracks relationships between associated Items using file relationship information from Vault.
BOMs provide:
Vault is a PDM system that primarily focuses on managing product data, including CAD files, specifications, and revisions. Files in Vault manage the detailed data associated with each component of a product using a file-centric approach.
Product components generally require many types of information other than just a native design file. For faster collaboration, it is critical to have this disparate set of information available to other functions of the organization as quickly as possible.
Items provide an abstraction layer above files that allows:
Items and BOMs act as a common currency across PDM and PLM systems, enabling seamless data exchange between engineering and enterprise systems. With the Vault Connector, you can: