CAD Standards in Modern Corporate Culture
The Perceived Value of CAD Standards
CAD standards have historically been a back-burner concern in any corporate culture, in my experience. “CAD manager” as a titled position was rarely even thought about or taken seriously.
The tasks that keep CAD users moving forward consistently have less ROI (return on investment) than design work. These efforts' resulting success or failure is tied to the economic environment and the company’s bottom line. Management must also realize the importance of quality documentation to their brand.
A profitable environment will more likely see management invest in non-design areas. As money gets tighter, unnecessary (read CAD standards), time and expense will be phased out.
Legacy data, being readily available, is typically the first to be used when starting a new design. Poor CAD work and lack of standards are typical of most legacy drawings. Too often, between management and CAD design staff changes, legacy data was done in an uncontrolled environment. The reuse of archival data creates problems that will be found later.
This article will examine the relationship between C-level management and CAD design output. The effectiveness of CAD standards implementation will be driven directly by what value the company sees in accurate and consistent documents. Documentation must be seen as a viable product to promote the corporate brand further and its willingness to invest in such.
What are CAD Standards?
CAD standards are guidelines for creating drawings to support a product or process while encompassing corporate-driven parameters established by management.
Challenges to defining and establishing CAD standards
“CAD standards” is a term that can make you a hero or a villain. The value of CAD standards to C-level management will decide which you become when starting down the road to creating and maintaining a corporate CAD standard.
How to Develop an Acceptable CAD Standard
The development of CAD standards is a tricky road to travel. The process will require input from people at all levels within an organization. The key word here is people. Ultimately, what you develop will be used by coworkers and put under a microscope by management; all are people. Failing to take into account the interests of everyone will lead to the unacceptance of your work by someone. This is a recipe for failure, even before you get started.
I want to be able to tell you just how to set up your corporate CAD standard, regardless of your organization’s culture. It will never happen. For every organization, there is a unique situation to be considered.
The working environment in which you attempt to establish any standard will drive your efforts and, therefore, the ultimate success or failure thereof.
The corporate mindset of my previous employers has significantly influenced my current approach to developing CAD standards and their attempts at implementation. I say attempts because I have seen many previous approaches which never developed a well-designed and accepted CAD standard. I am not saying that these companies have not made several solid attempts to do so. The results have been less than ideal for many reasons, however.
As a CAD manager, having been active in discussions with others in the field, I have heard many stories of failure and success. When I would bring the subject up to an employer, the interest from anyone above my level (Joe/Susie, average CAD operator) was nil.
Eventually, the right people became interested in the fact that their existing documentation was not up to par. When Management started getting wind of this, they began to ask questions.
This was the catalyst that drove everything! The light bulb went on when the current documentation’s state was revealed.
Typically, the companies I worked for were mid-sized and had a design environment based on CAD documents created by numerous people. These people had varying CAD skills or experience levels. This was usually due to a heavy workload and tight timelines, so it worked well in that situation. I cleaned up drawing formats and set up styles for future work as time allowed.
However, it would not even be considered when I approached management to make this a serious goal. Frustrated, I returned to working on legacy documents without seriously being able to improve the system.
The CAD design process during my time as an employee would change frequently. My workload jumped when people discovered I was more efficient at CAD than untrained engineers. As I worked on drawings, I started incorporating AutoCAD Electrical features previously ignored due to lack of training while having to bury the time doing so in active projects.
No Time for such trivialities
As business was booming, the idea of revising the CAD design process was usually entirely off the table. Management would occasionally be reorganized for various reasons. The key players would change with each reorganization, complicating the CAD standards development effort. This, paired with the mindset that things were going ok, so we did not want to introduce a potentially controversial change to the design environment, kept the status quo.
Changes on the Horizon
With changes in the industry and the corporate direction adjusting to them, there was a shift in the mentality at the management level. The competition in the industry was making management more aware of their brand and presence. As part of this new awareness, the product documentation topic was addressed.
Meetings were established with a committee that the company felt would be productive. The sessions got off to a great start. However, there was always some point of discussion that would be a concern by someone on the committee. As time went on, these sessions became less productive. Having 15 people put over an hour on admin time also got the bean counters’ attention.
Eventually, the group stopped meeting. The result was predictable, and the subject dropped with no actual results.
Where to Go From Here
The initial attempt at standardization with my current employer began five + years ago and is ongoing. Management has recently started a deep dive into improving processes and methodologies. This brings up the question of how we get there from here. Management is, in my opinion, going in the proper direction, analyzing current policies and procedures concerning the industry’s current state. CAD standards are now; I am happy to say, a real point of discussion in this process.
Getting there from here in my particular situation is challenging. Engineers are told that they are to create their own drawings. However, I have several engineers I work with that choose not get into the CAD files, or do not have the experience to do so. As an additional hurdle, there has been no real push to conform to a standard design. Management, for their part, has been isolated from this process for so long that, in my opinion, they are out of touch on the issue.
The fact that management-level people are not aware of the current CAD environment is the loose sand that their castle is built on. The foundation of their design process effectively washed away with the tide years ago.
With management proactively attempting to create an improved brand in the market, I see positive things happening. Issues that were not on the radar in the past have become important.
The challenge now is to get management to see the actual value of this and put some teeth into the CAD management process. An example, I recently wrote a two-page, single-spaced e-mail addressing my concerns to the CAD design team and included management. I got one response from thirty-five engineers and not one from management.
I understand that jobs must be processed to keep business going, and I also know that we are a design shop, not a standards shop.
Conclusion
A CAD manager’s approach to developing and implementing CAD standards must include all involved parties and be tailored to the company culture. If not, your efforts will cause frustration and friction between people, and ultimately fail. If you are a CAD manager, be aware that your road may have pitfalls and roadblocks along the way. Implementing any standard is a form of change, which will meet with resistance. Do not let this dismay you or frustrate you.
One hour spent at the beginning of a design project will save ten at the end of it. By looking at the actual value of your current task as it relates to another person’s future work, you can see the long-term benefit of taking the time to follow a standard established and followed by all CAD designers.
Final thoughts
As a last thought, I leave you with this; CAD standards come down to the people you work with. Some will follow quickly, some not so. Your corporate CAD standard must be a living effort. It will evolve with the working environment and your co-workers. Do not be afraid to fail, usually multiple times. You get better by learning from mistakes and not giving up when things do not go as planned.
