Selling 3D CAD to my Leadership

[FireIce]

My leadership has asked that I PROVE that using 3D CAD adds value.We're currently using CADWorx for our 3D Plant projects but word is spreading that it is money thrown away. The end result is 2D drawings to our customers and that is all they want to fund.

To me this is a no brainer. However, when our work is outsourced to a 3rd party and we request 3D, the price is typically 2 - 3 times as much as 2D drafting. This is driving the sense of non-value added effort.

Have any of you experienced similar situations and if so how did you overcome them?

[dgorsman]

Get the leads together and use NavisWorks to walk through an entire plant in a design review. Make sure "Smart tags" are set up for CADWorx data and turned on so you can point out line numbers, part descriptions, and valve tags. We routinely do this for client reviews as well. Clients love to see something they don't have to interpret from 2D drawings; not every client rep is a designer used to working with drawings, either, so 3D is much easier for them to work from. Then publish to NWD and point out that this file can be sent to a client and viewed with the Freedom viewer, which costs nothing to run.

Don't forget to show them the clash detection in CADWorx (and NavisWorks Manage, if you have it). This is one of the HUGE benefits to 3D design. Find problems *before* they make it to the field.

Finally, don't forget to set up ISOGEN properly. On a large plant being able to rip off literally hundreds of piping isometrics in a couple of minutes saves time and money from having to do each line manually.

[rick.riggs]

I face these oppositions as well, and to no final success, as it seems we are in the same boat. Here's the bottleneck: 3D drafting makes sense to you and me, and Its nice to formulate a plan of pros, and cons, but when the cons seem to outweigh the pros (at least in the minds of those you're trying to commit), you get a lack of commitment.

I agree with this process, even though it slays me to think that we operate in 2D-Unrelated(6+ different) faces of what we produce, opposed to working with the complete object missing nothing. That being said here are the killers, that must be overcome:

Some people don't get 3D; In other words, they are not trained in it, and a Z-Axis rocks their world.

Fear: If just a handful of people don't understand this and are speedy in the 2D realm, a project designed to use one drawn object for multi-purpose production drawings, ends up eating drafting time, and possibly more with missing deadlines.

Fear: The need for support rises - meaning everybody is tied up in more problems, rather than getting work done.

Fear: Our workstations aren't suited for 3D production work.

Confidence: The bigger motivating force for those in the decision making process to stick with 2D opposed to 3D, is that 2D drawings are predictable. I can get away with knowing that we can estimate against this proven practice, I don't have to train anybody, and most importantly I don't have to deal with the stress of reorganizing the efforts of the company's work-flow.

Plans to overcome:
1. I want to work closely with project management, to get my drafting hands on a job from start to finish, to prove the 3D process makes more sense.
2. Formulate training sessions to teach 3D.
3. Demonstrate the concept of Draw once - Show Section & Camera views everywhere else (Re-use).
Etc..

I have more plans, but the point is, I have to make sure there is a comforting answer to each one of these fears, and more if I think I'm going to be able to instill confidence and succeed in implementing 3D Drafting.

Hope this helps.

[Comach]

My leadership has asked that I PROVE that using 3D CAD adds value.We're currently using CADWorx for our 3D Plant projects but word is spreading that it is money thrown away. The end result is 2D drawings to our customers and that is all they want to fund.

To me this is a no brainer. However, when our work is outsourced to a 3rd party and we request 3D, the price is typically 2 - 3 times as much as 2D drafting. This is driving the sense of non-value added effort.

Have any of you experienced similar situations and if so how did you overcome them?

Both Dgorsman and Rick have covered some very important considerations.

I would add that additional advantages of 3d modelling can extend to inclusion of constructability studies, maintenance accessibility and being able to visually identify issue with clearance volumes.

Given a more flexible work methodology you could probably identify work share options with manufactuirng that reduce the necessity to rely on 2d drawings to convey design intent by sharing 3d model data.

The inherent intelligence of 3d cad models linked with properly formatted BOMs and Procurement systems is also a clear advantage. Plus accuracy of material purchasing saves a huge amount in consideration of traditional 2d guesstimating!

Close examination of your current engineering workflow may benefit from a more modular approach when working with 3d.

The bottom line is that the advantages of working in 3d extend beyond it just being a cad issue that encompasses all aspects of a project design - thereby the savings are project wide and not in isolation.