How do YOU handle drawing requests?

[jande43]

Looking for forms, procedure standards/ guidelines on drawing requests ie check in/check out processes. I am working on a powerpoint for our companies best practice team its has to be flashy. I'm just not feeling the "flashy" part of this assignment. Maybe with a little more coffee... So if anyone can list out their procedure when a drawing request comes in. Maybe it will fuel some creativity for me. THanks!

[jande43]

Cricket cricket

[dkoch]

Cricket cricket

Perhaps you could mention what industry you are in? I work for an Architecture/Interiors/Engineering firm, and all of our active files are on our network, in folders by project number. Each employee belongs to a particular discipline, which gives them full access to some sub-folders and read-only access to the others. No one has to "request" access to a drawing.

Also note that your original post was on a Saturday, with the follow up on a Sunday, which are probably the two days of the week with the lowest traffic on the site. Perhaps on Monday, you will see more responses.

[kwoodward]

Would you be using Vault?
We don't but our policies are quite simple.
1. OPEN only the drawing you are editing.
2. OPEN READ ONLY the drawings you need to copy data and notes from.
3. Don't "camp-out" in a drawing all day.
4. COMMUNICATE with other team members about WHO is doing WHAT and WHEN.

[Wanderer]

Looking for forms, procedure standards/ guidelines on drawing requests ie check in/check out processes. I am working on a powerpoint for our companies best practice team its has to be flashy. I'm just not feeling the "flashy" part of this assignment. Maybe with a little more coffee... So if anyone can list out their procedure when a drawing request comes in. Maybe it will fuel some creativity for me. THanks!

I know that being an owner makes me an exception. My users (250 or so, across three departments) did not have write access to the server. They could all view all of the files, but, if they wanted to modify them, they'd have to copy them to their desktop, and email any changes to me to upload to the server (after checking for quality, of course). The mechanical engineer was my backup, if I was out.

As for requesting drawings, for people outside of those internal users, I created a simple form (pdf fill or fax) where they could check off what they wanted. Building X, floor 2, piping, etc. You can also pick out the slacker contractors that way and tip off their PM's. 'Architect and Electrical guys received existing conditions plans back in January, but, the GC, Mechanical and Plumbing guys didn't get their data until the day before we started the renovation.' Helpful to know when selecting contractors and subs, as to who will actually do their due dilligence when planning and executing a project.

[rkmcswain]

....all of our active files are on our network, in folders by project number. Each employee belongs to a particular discipline, which gives them full access to some sub-folders and read-only access to the others. No one has to "request" access to a drawing.

Ditto this ^^^^^^^

[jande43]

Thank you for the responses! Sorry I haven't been on since. Sometimes no internet connection is a blessing in disguise.

@dkoch- C-mon..... nobody works on Saturday's & Sunday's. I'm feeling pretty sheepish now. I guess I should be a little more mindful of that.

@Kwoodward- We do not use Vault yet. I am hoping to move to that at some point.

@Wanderer- Your position sounds like a mirror image of mine. Right down to the slackers. I am in also in the midst of creating a form that will hopefully follow projects from the beginning to end that will also include new drawings created and voided drawings. I know you probably have all the tools you need but let me know if your interested and I will send it to you.

Seems as tho everyone pretty much has the same procedure. Thanks again for all the response!! Hope everyone has a good weekend. I promise not to work.

[Wanderer]

Thank you for the responses! Sorry I haven't been on since. Sometimes no internet connection is a blessing in disguise.

@dkoch- C-mon..... nobody works on Saturday's & Sunday's. I'm feeling pretty sheepish now. I guess I should be a little more mindful of that.

@Kwoodward- We do not use Vault yet. I am hoping to move to that at some point.

@Wanderer- Your position sounds like a mirror image of mine. Right down to the slackers. I am in also in the midst of creating a form that will hopefully follow projects from the beginning to end that will also include new drawings created and voided drawings. I know you probably have all the tools you need but let me know if your interested and I will send it to you.

Seems as tho everyone pretty much has the same procedure. Thanks again for all the response!! Hope everyone has a good weekend. I promise not to work.

Lol, somehow I don't believe your promise not to work.

I thank you very much, however, I am fortunate enough that I no longer manage drawing archives nor projects... though, still working for an owner and I support the users that do. I spent so much time at my last role transferring files around that I'm just sick of it. the odd field verification and proposal layout are all I'm involved in now.

[dkoch]

@dkoch- C-mon..... nobody works on Saturday's & Sunday's. I'm feeling pretty sheepish now. I guess I should be a little more mindful of that.

Well, I was in here (but from home, not from the office).

[mblacklin]

I work for an environmental engineering & consulting firm as the lone drafter supporting approximately 15 project managers. In order to deal with the multitude of requests that I receive on a daily basis, I created a Google Form to help steer the requests. I was able to build out a form that has 'required' fields that a project manager must complete in order to submit the request. This has really helped ensure I receive all pertinent information in order to complete a task. Previously, each PM would send me an email with varying amounts of information regarding their project. Tracking all those various emails (was it a revision, or a full new project? what type of project? how soon do they need it? etc) and their content was cumbersome at best. Using the Google Form means that every time a PM sends a new request, I receive a nice tidy email with the information they sent through the form. All submissions are tracked in a Google Sheets spreadsheet, which gives me the ability to filter & chart various information regarding the drafting requests. There are limitations to this system, but it's definitely an improvement over what we had prior. Our next step will be to step up to a database driven request system, either through our in-house SQL database, or through cloud based companies like TrackVia, Ragic or ParaSQL.

As for the drawing files themselves, they all live on our local network, and the files themselves aren't exactly write-protected except for the fact that only myself and my IT administrator have CAD software that can modify them.