Revision and Iteration Management

Control Every Version of Your Product Data with Confidence

Smarter Product Structures with Advanced BOM Management

Nora IPLM simplifies even the most complex Bill of Materials with a dynamic, visual, and multi-level BOM system. Manage mechanical, electrical, and software components in a unified view, all fully linked with change requests, revisions, and workflows.
Gain full control, traceability, and collaboration from concept to production.

Revision and Iteration Management in PLM

Achieve complete control over product evolution with Nora IPLM’s Revision and Iteration Management module. Designed for engineering precision and enterprise reliability, it provides the foundation for managing product maturity, ensuring every version, change, and relationship remains traceable, compliant, and structurally consistent.

Why Revision and Iteration Management Is Critical

In complex product environments, every change matters. Uncontrolled versioning leads to data loss, broken relationships, and costly rework. Nora IPLM eliminates this risk with lifecycle-defined revision and iteration rules that maintain structural integrity across all product data. Whether managing CAD models, specifications, or supporting documents, your teams can work confidently knowing that every iteration and revision is organized, validated, and connected.

Unified Approach to Version Control

Iterations

Core Capabilities of Revision and Iteration Management

Nora IPLM’s Revision and Iteration Management module provides a structured, rule-based framework for managing every version of your product data. Each capability is designed to maintain lifecycle consistency, protect data integrity, and give teams full traceability across items, documents, and drawings. From automated version updates to configurable relationship rules, users gain precise control over how revisions and iterations evolve, interact, and are visualized throughout the product lifecycle.

Advanced Revision and Iteration Management

Gain complete control over how your product data evolves. Nora IPLM’s Revision and Iteration Management module ensures every design, document, and relationship follows defined lifecycle rules. Track revisions from A to Z, manage iterations like A.0 to A.1, and maintain data integrity across complex product structures. From document updates to multi-level comparisons, every change stays organized, traceable, and compliant throughout the product lifecycle.

Lifecycle-Defined Rules for Integrity

Nora IPLM applies a comprehensive set of revision and iteration management rules across all object types. These rules are implemented to preserve both data and structure integrity, guaranteeing accuracy and compliance throughout the lifecycle.

Revision and Iteration Representation

By default, revisions are displayed alphabetically from A to Z (A, B, C, D, etc.), but this order can be adjusted by lifecycle rules. Iterations appear as A.0, A.1, A.2, representing progressive changes within the same revision. This hierarchy provides clarity and control over concurrent updates and parallel design work.

Supported Object Types

Item, document, and drawing types are both revisable and  iteratable, while most other object types are revisable, with exceptions like system-level objects such as workspaces. Each main revision is directly linked to its latest iteration, meaning that changes made in the main revision are only reflected in its current iteration.

Iteration Behavior and Lifecycle State

Iteration objects adopt the “default” state in their lifecycle. Relationship actions such as connect, disconnect, or modify are performed strictly through revisions, not iterations, to prevent structural conflicts and ensure consistent referencing across the system.

Document Iteration and File Comparison

Documents in Nora IPLM are fully iteratable, enabling teams to maintain separate file versions for each iteration, such as updated Word or Excel documents. Using online document editing and check-in/check-out capabilities of the platform, users can create a new iteration on every save by selecting “Create New Iteration.” This enables precise version tracking and allows users to compare even the smallest document changes.

Relationship-Specific Revision Rules

Revision behavior is carefully defined for each relationship type to streamline how related objects evolve. System administrators can configure distinct rules for both directions of a relationship.

  • On new revision creation of a parent object, a new relation is automatically established between the parent and its child objects.

  • On new revision creation of a child object, the system automatically replaces the old revision in the relation with the new one, ensuring that all “to” (child) relations are immediately updated.

If needed, users can revert to an older state using the “Replace” command, providing both control and flexibility. This ensures users always work with the latest revisions while retaining the option to restore previous configurations.

Automated Version Propagation

When new revisions are created, connected objects and relationships are automatically updated to reflect the latest version. This eliminates manual link management, reducing human error and ensuring downstream data consistency across BOMs, workflows, and change management modules.

Comparison and Visualization in Comparison Widget

Perform in-depth comparisons between revisions or iterations to identify differences at the attribute, structure, and file level. The Comparison Widget highlights what has changed, helping teams validate updates and ensure design accuracy before release.

Comparison and Visualization in Viewer Widget

Compare revisions or iterations visually in 3D for detailed design validation. The Viewer Widget enables engineers to review geometry, detect differences, and confirm that each design update aligns with product and release requirements.

Comparison and Visualization in Structure Widget

Visualize complete BOM structures or projects with mixed revision levels. The Structure Widget allows users to analyze dependencies, assess the impact of revisions, and verify that relationships remain consistent throughout the product and project hierarchy.

Comparison and Visualization in Relations Pane

Access linked revisions and iterations for every object in a single view. The Relations Pane gives users full visibility into how items, documents, and drawings are connected across the lifecycle, supporting better decision-making during updates.

Search Parameters

Filter and locate specific revisions, iterations, or combinations using advanced search parameters. Whether you’re looking for a historical version or a specific configuration, the Search Panel provides precise control over data retrieval.

Latest Flag

Use the “Latest” flag to instantly retrieve the most current revision or iteration of any object. This feature simplifies navigation in large datasets and ensures teams are always working with up-to-date information.

Audit-Ready History and Compliance

Every change, revision, iteration, relation update, or file modification, is logged and fully traceable. Nora IPLM’s audit framework provides transparent histories that simplify reviews, compliance checks, and certification audits.

Built for Precision, Flexibility, and Control​

Nora IPLM’s Revision and Iteration Management module goes beyond traditional version tracking. It creates a transparent, rule-driven environment that keeps every stakeholder aligned and every product configuration accurate. Whether managing mechanical, electrical, or software components, the module adapts to your lifecycle model while preserving the relationships that define your product’s integrity.

How it works

A design engineer revises a CAD model (Revision A → B). The new revision automatically links to the existing children components and inherits approved relationships. Meanwhile, supporting documents undergo separate iterations (A.0 → A.1 → A.2) as internal reviews progress. All updates flow into a unified audit trail, ensuring every change, from geometry updates to documentation edits, remains traceable.

Benefits for Product Teams

Total traceability across all revisions, iterations, and dependent relationships

Reduced rework via structured and traceable update flows

Higher design integrity through automated lifecycle enforcement

Faster validation through comparison and visualization tools

 

Streamlined change control across complex product structures

Confidence in compliance with built-in audit history and lifecycle traceability

Integration with Other Nora IPLM Modules

  • Change Management: Automatically create change requests or ECRs when new revisions are released.
  • BOM Management: Link revised items to updated BOM structures for accurate rollups.
  • Workflow Management: Define approval steps for revision releases and iteration locks.
    • Note: A new revision is automatically created by the system for a task when the same step is revisited due to a loop-back in the workflow.
  • Document Management: Control document states and file versions alongside object revisions.
  • Baseline Management: Capture baselines that freeze revision states for milestone comparison.

See Revision and Iteration Management in Action

Experience how Nora IPLM brings order, structure, and intelligence to product versioning.

Explore More from Nora IPLM

Discover more ways Nora IPLM simplifies product development and innovation. Explore related topics, use cases, and platform features that help your teams work smarter and bring better products to market faster.

Transforming Issue and Risk Management

Transforming Issue and Risk Management

Boost your project success with streamlined issue and risk management in Nora IPLM.

Streamline Engineering Change Management

Streamline Engineering Change Management

Connect engineering updates, document revisions, and approvals in one place to keep every change controlled, traceable, and aligned across the product lifecycle.

Product Lifecycle Management

Product Lifecycle Management

Efficiently manage, collaborate, and innovate across every stage of your product lifecycle.

Discover More From Nora IPLM

This is a staging environment
Nora IPLM