Written by Bob Mecham
The CAD Manager can often seem to be invisible. After all, if the job is done well, you never really think about CAD Manger. Things just work. When new software is released, a new plotter is delivered, or standards need maintenance, things get upgraded, set up, and continue to work. Whether you have the title of CAD Manager or you are just trying to manage your company’s CAD system on your own time and the weekends, no one really seems to notice the impact.
No one notices the efforts of the CAD Manager until he changes jobs and there is no longer a CAD Manager. Then they say, “Well, it used to work.”
It just so happens, within a week, I received calls from two different individuals that had recently changed jobs and were trying to complete project work. Both had years of CAD and Design experience but neither had served in CAD Manager roles. As they were trying to complete projects, they found themselves spending more time trying to comply with the client standards than actually working on the design. The individuals realized quickly the lost time in production as they were fighting client standards and deliverables.
Photo by Mikie T.
I’m not writing this so that us CAD managers can cry in our beers. Rather, as CAD Managers it is necessary that we toot our own horns and be our own agents.
When you complete a project, whether it is deploying a client standard or setting up a plotting solution, make sure everyone knows about it and make note of any time and cost savings that were associated with it. Hard data related to specific tasks you execute can be invaluable, especially related to ROI. The CAD Managers I know are a humble group and enjoy what they do, but in today’s world of social media you need to make sure you are out in front and being heard.
For those of you just realizing the importance of a Managed CAD solution who still do not have the time or resources to handle it internally, consider outsourcing your CAD Management. An outsourced CAD Manager will not only get all of your CAD software compliant with company standards, they will also help with upgrades and automated tasks that take you out of production.
How do you make sure that your work is noticed? Share your CAD Manager story below.
People also read – CAD Management – Should you outsource?
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Yes this happens in the background. Nobody knows how they do it but expect these methods and tools we right just to be there. Oh we want the text fonts to size automatically, can you add a right click to the mouse that will do …. ,etc. As a CAD manager I will take my hat off to others out there doing this work. Yes it’s not always nice not to be noticed and appraised to do this work but at the end of the day you can sit back and see how you have improved the work environment that everybody else take for granted. If there is anyone out there that would like to share some special app they wrote or just want to chat about something please share with us all that we can learn out of each other’s experiences. Email me – howardgib@gmail.com Good luck mates.