Forming a CADD/BIM Steering Committee

[pdavis]

The firm I work for has a technology steering comm. This success of that group can be debated.

I am thinking of proposing a CADD/BIM Steering Comm to help me and my team define the new standards and practices that the entire firm would follow. I would involve staff from all offices, but involvement would be based on merit and not political decisions.

I would like to hear of others successes or failures with a similar group.

[dtamplen]

We did this a couple of years ago with limited success. We are a small firm, so we didn't have to involve a lot of people. Some of the difficulties we had were controlling drawings from outside sources. (You can't control them.)

Best of luck.
David

[ededios]

I've been involved, or done the same in 3 different scenarios now.
Depending how your company works, the committee can work if there is follow thru.
If the group can not implement anything but only make suggestions, then you need managements commitment beforehand or along the way that it will happen.If management is involved with the group, you still need to know they are committed. If you are management and don't need approval then your in a better place than I.

Those have been my issues, not the actual discussion on what and how etc. That was the easy part.

Not sure if that answers your question or helps you. I think it's a good idea, I have a similar group going right now, and we just called it Digital Practice Comm.

Hope it works out well for you!

[David.Hoole]

I don't know what your business is, or how your company is structured, so this may or may not be relevant to you, but from recent experience in a global multi-disciplinary consultancy...

Establish clear objectives for the group and produce a written strategy document. Have this signed off at the highest level. Ensure support for the group at the highest level within the company. Without this you will fail!

Ensure that all stakeholders are represented on the group. Choose representatives carefully!

Ensure close communication/collaboration with other technical/management groups within the company. Many decisions can be taken by such groups which impact on CAD without understanding of the implications. Also, the line between CAD and analysis & design is becoming increasingly blurred, requiring closer integration of the two.

Establish a common CAD management structure throughout. Overall manager plus local co-ordinators at each location (whatever structure suits your company). Publicise this structure and the strategy, emphasizing high level backing, throughout the company.

Do not rely on senior management in a large company to communicate support for your objectives throughout the company . They do not have the interest or the time.

Publicise the activities of your group to all users and management via a regular newsletter, where there are no political considerations.

Your group cannot do too much self-publicizing!

Think that's it for now. If anything else occurs to me I'll chip in again.

Good luck!