You are running Autodesk Vault, and for good reasons. One source of truth, version control, no more duplicate files scattered across six network drives. But if you are honest: a large part of the daily Inventor Vault workflow stays manual work. Checking documents, exporting production files, filling in iProperties, piecing together a bill of materials in Excel. Vault keeps your data tidy, but it does not fill in your metadata and it does not publish your PDFs for you.
That is where Thundercad comes in. Not a replacement for Vault, but the toolbox that takes the repetitive work around it off your hands. In this article you will read how Thundercad works together with Vault, what that delivers in concrete terms for a team, and what to watch out for.
Where the Inventor Vault workflow gets stuck
Vault does its job well when it comes to storage and management. The friction is somewhere else: in the steps an engineer or work planner repeats manually every day. A few recognizable situations.
An assembly of 60 parts is ready for production. Someone now has to make a PDF of every drawing, a DXF of the sheet metal parts, a STEP of the milled parts, and a DWG for the supplier. Per document: open, export, choose the right folder, save, close. Do that sixty times. Then you understand why this often gets left until Friday afternoon.
Or: the iProperties. Material, project number, drafter, client, surface treatment. In an environment with Vault, consistent metadata is not a luxury but the foundation of your entire system. Yet it gets filled in field by field, per document, by different people who each interpret it slightly differently. One time "stainless steel" and the next time "stainless steel 304", and your search function in Vault becomes unreliable.
And then the bill of materials. Purchasing wants an Excel file in a fixed format. That means copying columns, rearranging, formatting. Every time again, with the risk of an error that only surfaces at the supplier.
Batch Publish in your Inventor Vault workflow
The core of a smooth Inventor Vault workflow is exporting production documents. Thundercad does that with Batch Publish: all production documents in one step, in the formats you need: PDF, DWG, DXF and STEP.
Batch Publish works together with your Vault environment. Instead of going through separate export dialogs per file, you select the set and export the whole thing in one action. The claim we attach to this is concrete: 1 click instead of 12 steps. And as proof of the scale this is about: 48 PDFs in 6 seconds.
Do the math with an example. Suppose you have fifty drawings per release set, and that manually opening, exporting and closing costs you on average one minute per document. That is almost an hour of pure clicking, plus the concentration it takes not to skip a single document. With Batch Publish you select the set and it is done in a fraction of that time, in the right folders, in the right formats. This is an assumption to show the order of magnitude, not a measurement, but the pattern is recognized by anyone who does this work.
The most important effect for a team is not even the time saved, but the consistency. A batch does not skip a document and does not forget a format. What you export is complete, the same every time, according to the same rules. In a Vault workflow where the model is leading and the output has to be traceable, that predictability counts double.
Stop exporting your production documents by hand. See for yourself how Batch Publish works together with your Vault environment and gives you back your Friday afternoon.
Try it free for 30 daysClean data is the foundation of your Vault
A Vault is exactly as reliable as the data inside it. And data gets polluted by models that are built messily: leftover sketches, dead-end features, geometry that nobody uses anymore but that still comes along with every derived file and every export.
With Model Cleaner you clean that up. You remove leftover geometry and tidy up the browser, so the model contains what it should contain and nothing more. That is not just neat, it has practical consequences: cleaner derived files, more predictable behavior during batch exports, and colleagues who take over a model they understand right away.
In a Vault environment this counts double. If one person checks in a polluted model, everyone who reuses it inherits that mess. Checking in clean is a form of respect for the team, and Model Cleaner turns that into a matter of seconds instead of a job you would rather put off.
Consistent metadata with the iProperty Menu
This is perhaps the biggest gain for teams with Vault. Your search and filter functions, your reports, your links with other systems: they all lean on metadata. And metadata is only valuable if it is consistent.
The iProperty Menu lets you manage iProperties through one configurable data card per document type. That means you have a fixed card for a part, an assembly and a drawing, each with the fields that matter. The engineer sees a clear input screen instead of a collection of separate iProperty dialogs, and fills in the right fields in the right place.
The effect: fewer typos, fewer differences in interpretation, fewer forgotten fields. "Stainless steel 304" is filled in the same way by everyone, because the field is in the same place and has the same name. That is exactly what a Vault needs to stay usable as the project and the number of files grow.
Combine that with Batch Publish and the circle is complete: clean, consistent metadata in your model leads to clean, predictable output when publishing. Your data is correct at the source and at delivery.
The bill of materials without the Excel hassle
Bills of materials are the link between engineering and purchasing, and that is often where time gets lost in translation work. With BOM Export you put your bills of materials into Excel in a fixed template. No more dragging columns, no more restoring formatting: the structure is fixed, so what purchasing receives is the same format every time.
For a team that means less noise between departments. The engineer delivers as it should be, the buyer knows what he gets. And because the data comes from your Inventor model, the bill of materials is as up to date as your model. In a Vault workflow where the model is leading, that fits seamlessly.
The smaller tools that make your day faster
Not every gain is in the big steps. Part of the friction in the daily Inventor Vault workflow is in the small, constant actions.
- Batch Open & Close: quickly open and close files in assemblies, without clicking your way through the browser. Handy when you need to work in a specific spot in a large assembly.
- Quick Save / Load: park your work and bring it back exactly. If you are interrupted halfway through a task, you later pick up precisely where you were.
- Sheet Buttons: a sheet size up or down, or rotate a sheet, with one button instead of through several dialogs.
On its own each of these sounds small. Added up over a working week, across a whole team, that moves the needle noticeably.
One place to manage everything: the Dashboard
The Dashboard is where you activate and manage the tools, and where the connection with your broader system landscape sits. Through the Dashboard you can connect Thundercad to your ERP and other software. For a team that works with Vault that is relevant: your model data, your metadata and your production output do not stand on their own, but fit into a chain that runs through to purchasing, planning and production.
That way Thundercad does not become a loose collection of buttons, but a layer that connects your Inventor and Vault environment with the rest of your company.
What Batch Publish and the rest deliver for teams with Vault
Put the pieces together and the pattern becomes clear. Vault provides structure and management; Thundercad makes sure the work within that structure goes faster and more consistently.
| Bottleneck in the workflow | Thundercad tool |
|---|---|
| Manually exporting PDF/DWG/DXF/STEP | Batch Publish (works together with Vault) |
| Polluted models that pollute your Vault | Model Cleaner |
| Inconsistent metadata | iProperty Menu |
| Converting bills of materials to Excel | BOM Export |
| Connecting tools to ERP | Dashboard |
Companies such as Little Giant Europe, Van Egten, Banzo and Mannen van Staal work with Thundercad. The common thread: less repeated manual work, more predictable output, and data that is correct.
There is also more on the roadmap, such as Batch Flat Pattern, Find Item, a Drawing Checker/Cleaner and a Drawing Updater. These are not available yet, but they do indicate the direction: taking even more repetitive drawing work off your hands.
Want to know how much calmer your Inventor Vault workflow becomes without all that manual work? Try it yourself, on your own projects.
Try it free for 30 daysFrequently asked questions
Does Thundercad really work together with Autodesk Vault?
Yes. Batch Publish works together with your Vault environment, so you can export production documents without rebuilding the workflow around it. Thundercad does not replace Vault; it takes the repetitive work within your Vault environment off your hands.
What do I need to use Thundercad?
Windows 10 or 11, Autodesk Inventor 2025 or newer, and an active Autodesk account. Thundercad works together with Vault and can be connected through the Dashboard to your ERP and other software.
What does it cost and can I try it first?
Thundercad costs EUR 30 per user per month, or EUR 300 per user per year (two months free), excluding VAT, per seat for 1 to 99 users. You can try it free for 30 days, without a credit card. You can read more in the knowledge base.