Articles

Does your business really need CAD Support?

Every engineering business that produces detailed Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings, no matter how small the business, will at some time require CAD support. But does that justify the cost of an extra employee for something you could probably fix yourself given enough with time, research & searching?When a single software issue can bring an entire design office grinding to a halt, having someone available & dedicated to fixing those issues doesn’t sound so bad after all. But what other value can a CAD support person bring to your business?

CAD Support makes your business more Efficient

Most Engineering offices are busy, really busy. Quite often the case in a busy office when drafting using CAD software such as AutoCAD, CAD objects & blocks are copied from old jobs to new jobs modified & to suit. While this process works, it is far from efficient.It relies on those drafting to remember on what job the required CAD items were last used, find that job, open multiple drawings to find the specific sheet it was used on & then copy those items over to the new job. The copied item may include technical errors that have never been fixed, different formatting & possibly even bring unwanted bugs from another CAD file. This process is then repeated possibly hundreds of times for just one job.However, when a staff member with knowledge of numerous old projects leaves or retires it becomes much harder for less experienced employees to do their job, for a new staff member it can make things extremely difficult. This often leads to staff spending more time re-drafting details that were previously used, simply because they couldn’t find them or didn’t know they existed.Good CAD support helps avoid these problems by providing your business with a regularly updated AutoCAD library. Many drafting CAD libraries are little more than a folder where an assortment of blocks is dumped from old jobs, often well-intentioned, but often neglected without dedicated resources to maintain & improve it. The most beneficial CAD library is well thought out, organised, regularly updated & improved for ease of use & improved efficiency.The improvements in efficiency are clearly reflected in the reduced man-hours needed per project, fewer costly mistakes that require rework, and minimized staff downtime due to software or hardware issues.

CAD Manager provides Drafting Guidance

Besides assisting with CAD standards, a major advantage of CAD support is providing help and guidance to employees.This support can take many forms, including providing drafting advice, offering hands-on teaching and training sessions, and conducting thorough drafting reviews to ensure quality and accuracy.CAD support staff often come from senior drafting roles and bring a wealth of experience, making them great resources to assist others with various drafting tasks.

An effective CAD manager is often invaluable—much like acquiring a tool that quickly makes you wonder how you ever managed without it. While it is possible to operate without dedicated CAD support, the question remains whether it is advisable. Undoubtedly, having proper CAD support makes the process significantly more efficient and manageable.