What works and doesn't work in your company?

[eleonard]

I am currently working on a long term proposal for the company I work for. Currently I am working for a company with no real written CAD standards and procedures. (I am putting some together for one office) I see a huge need for a corporate CAD Manager and I am going to be putting a proposal together to create that position. Some may think I am so wierd for wanting to do this but it is something that I really have a desire to do.

I am looking for information from anyone willing to offer. I am looking for things that have worked in large and small firms regarding all area's of standards and procedures.

My ultimate goal in creating this position in my company is to stream line project procedures and to help make the cad department a productive and competitive department. I want to be able to empower all cad users to learn and grow in thier fields and to teach more about cad.

I need to show management a list of pro's and con's to the position and help them see the benifits of creating the corporate cad manager position. This is something that will take me a significant amout of time. I have a co-worker that will help me present all of my idea's in a powerful business manner. I just need some outside imput on what does and does not work.

Thank you to any who are willing to help me in this quest. You can either post or email me directly.

Emily

[Wanderer]

no real written CAD standards and procedures. (I am putting some together for one office) I see a huge need for a corporate CAD Manager and I am going to be putting a proposal together to create that position. Some may think I am so wierd for wanting to do this but it is something that I really have a desire to do.
I need to show management a list of pro's and con's to the position and help them see the benifits of creating the corporate cad manager position. This is something that will take me a significant amout of time. I have a co-worker that will help me present all of my idea's in a powerful business manner. I just need some outside imput on what does and does not work.Emily... I had to reread this and make sure I hadn't written it... when I proposed this to my leadership, I took a couple of months gather data and ended up with about a 15 page report.
It was broken down into 3 main sections...
How things were done in the past
How things are done now (successes and shortcomings)
How things SHOULD be done

It was well rec'd at all levels, my boss's boss asked me to present my 'vision' at our annual planning/training conf here, which includes the higher-ups here and our corporate counterparts.
Everyone had good questions and input, which helped me see some other information I could gather if I had support from the other departments.
It will be a long, hard battle and there is still no end in sight! I'll try and get a summary of my report and post back to you. The biggest problem I had was the financial part, since I don't deal with the budget in my department (dispite begging to help for the last 3 years). I could estimate salary, software and supply expenses, but, the hardware, telecomm, benefits, etc all those additional costs which would be factored into a financial pros/cons sheet weren't readily available to me.

I'm eager to hear what others have to say, if they've been successful about this... hmm, I also wrote an article for my LUG newsletter a while back about writing an effective business proposal that a friend here gave me (he wants a cabling department ;) ).

Good luck!

[de-co1]

I did the same in my previous company, where I instigated a move towards setting up the CAD Protocol within the office. As it existed, there was no structure, discipline, co-ordination, or even a proper server.

As the boss wasn't the type of person who's attention was the easiest to keep hold of, I tried to keep my proposal as short as possible, yet cover as much ground as I could. My proposal was finally implemented in 2004 (I put it forward in 2002), and it took almost a year and a half to get to the stage of setting up the CAD Management (drawing styles, layering et al). I was successful in the purchasing and set up of the new server and back-up system, a new A0 colour plotter and scanner, and a couple of smaller printers.

Along with this came a proper system of directories, backing up, anti-virus, security and archiving, which covered all the tasks and projects in the office. I managed to get half way through the layering system before resigning and moving across the oceans.

In the end, my proposal worked, and I have used a similar system in previous companies - each time I have managed to come out tops, and make changes.

Like you, I have always been employed in companies where these structures don't exist, and someone needs to make that stand.

I have attached my proposal, but taken it off the company letterhead and logos it was originally on, so please excuse the rather bland feel to it. It would also be nice to receive other peoples' comments on this too, so that I may learn more myself.

[michael.12445]

When you research CAD standards, you'll see two two major areas of concern: (1) the standards themselves, and (2) enforcing them, that is, getting your users to buy in to and adhere to the standards.

Think long and hard about why you need a particular standard. For example, at one time you could start a major war just by mentioning "layers," as everyone seemed to have his own system and thought everyone else should adhere to it. And not having any system did, in fact, make information hard to find and work with. But now there are all kinds of tools like the "make object's layer current," which IMHO make the need for a rigid layering system a lot less urgent.

As to your question of what works and what doesn't, generally what works best are standards that are built in to systems that people can use without having to remember or think about anything. For example, you can set up everyone to use the same template drawing that already contains all your layers, block definitions, text styles, dimension styles, etc., so that whenever anyone starts a new drawing, all that stuff is there, without them having to go and find it. That will work better than giving everyone a list of standard blocks, for instance, and expecting them to use those and only those blocks.

Michael Evans
Togawa & Smith, Inc.

[VirtualBuilding]

I applaud your intentions!
As others have said it is sometimes a long road to set out upon, but if you are careful about "how" you set out on the journey it can be incredibly rewarding.

Start with "what is broke". Standards typically come up when something doesn't work or is terribly inefficient. Time = Money, and if you can document it, that is a good solid brick for your foundation.

Next Environment is critical. If the company, it's managers, and the culture surrounding it all; is unstructured and chaotic becuase of an absence of accountability and management then I would tread VERY carefully. It is nearly impossible to change a companies culture and raising the flag for Standards can often stregthen the walls against change if they are already accustomed to free chaos :)
However, if your coworkers, managers, and leadership are already aware that things are far from efficient and just don't know where to start or don't have time... then the time is ripe!

Lastly, automate.. automate... automate. If it's easier to do it with the Standard's tools then people will use it regardless of their opinions of it. Because it's easier. Those few who refuse and still swim up water.. will eventually drown on their own ;)

I've been CAD Manager for two very large Architectural firms and am currently working as a Consultant / CAD Manager for several smaller firms. Been down this road several times and would love to aid with my 2 cents if you're interested. Good luck!

[eleonard]

I've been CAD Manager for two very large Architectural firms and am currently working as a Consultant / CAD Manager for several smaller firms. Been down this road several times and would love to aid with my 2 cents if you're interested. Good luck!
I think the road you are on is one that I would like to eventually be on. All weekend i spent writing menu files and cad standards. I am a sick individule who enjoys that stuff.
I have a long way to go as far as the undersanding cad the way i would like to.

I have been documenting the things I see can and need to be changed and the time that these changes would save. My ultimate goal is to convince corporate that there is a need for a corporate cad manager. Who for the most part is a full time cad manager.

I am dealing with the result of not testing cad ablilities when hiring someone and it would have been extreemly helpful if I would have gotten a yes instead of a no on testing.

I would love any imput you may have on what works and what doesn't. What would be the best way of communication with you regarding this subject?

Emily

[VirtualBuilding]

I am dealing with the result of not testing cad ablilities when hiring someone and it would have been extreemly helpful if I would have gotten a yes instead of a no on testing.

Emily

That's a tough one too. IMHO it's a severe problem in our industry that the people who hire/fire and manage the businesses that are driven by CAD, have little if no CAD skill themselves. It's a logical question to ask then, "How can you evaluate someone's CAD skills if you have none?"

Of course no one has ever won an argument with Logic ;)

Do you have an HR person or is it a member of management in control of your hiring practice?
It's a difficult shift in thought to get them to understand that they need to add "to the list" of requirements in evaluating a person for hire, CAD Skill.

A method I have found successful, however time consuming, is to poll existing employee managers and ask them to visit with you about the turmoils of bringing a new person on the team. Move from project team to team and ask a pre-set list of questions, so it's a fair interview and can be shown as consistent (take quotes, not names). What you may find might surprise you. CAD Skill may not be on the top of the list of most severe deficiencies :D

Then again it might be too. The difference being, is now you have a concrete, in-house, peer review of the "process" of adding a new person to the firm.
Once you have this, you can then cost analyze it's affect on the companies bottom line.
If your number one complaint is "people we hire, don't have enough CAD skill", then you can propose Company Wide CAD Training, add a Cost Estimate and put it in front of management...

Now here's the trick ;)

In your other hand have the "Plan B". Most likely they will wince at the down time and cost to hire trainers, PC's for training rooms, etc... As Plan A spirals down the tubs and no one looks happy about it... slide Plan B across the table.
Plan B: "Entrance CAD Evaluation". An "evaluation" for new employees can be given to determine "where in the firm their skills will be the largest asset". HR managers tend to shy away from the word "test". It needs to be short, 10-15 minutes... may not even require a PC. There are several online testing services as well that many CAD Vendors supply. An old school CAD test, is hand them a Detail or drawing and ask them to draw it. Instruct them not to close CAD after the test... then go back and look at the History of commands... very telling :)

When presented with the option of spending a large amount of money to "train" new employees OR a solution to hire "better" employees... you'll find management will be much more interested in talking about changing the way they hire people...