Cadalyst - May 2008 - (Page 39)

cadmanager ects as the contracting company while another division functions as a supplier company. I’ve also seen scenarios in which larger independent companies do limited collaboration with outside suppliers and therefore find themselves bordering on a contracting company role. Keeping your company type (or types) in mind will help you manage standards later, so think about it now. Organize Your Data No doubt part of your CAD standards will specify the use of blocks, title frames, drawing symbology, standard mechanical parts, and standard architectural details. These data elements need to be organized before you roll out any new standards. So take the time to get all your directories established, get your network permissions set, and make sure all your files are properly named. This type of organization is not glamorous (or fun), but it must be done before authoring CAD standards. The First Draft Now you know what is motivating the move to CAD standards, what problems need to be addressed, and what role your CAD standards will play based on your company type. The time has come to take an initial stab at writing some CAD standards. Consider the following: Look at existing standards. In the “Web Resources” sidebar, you’ll see information about the U.S. National CAD Standard and some resources from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to get you started in the right direction. Look at other company standards. If you are a supplier company (as outlined above), you’ll want to see the standards documents from the companies for whom you are working. Because you’ll have to live up to their standards anyway, why not start here. If you’re a contracting company, you may want to ask some of the firms you contract for their CAD standards. a lot less hassle for you to enforce (because users love them): Use templates wherever you can. Don’t tell users to create 100 layers; give them a template where the layers already exist. Create standard toolbars, palettes, and navigation views. Users love having the tools they need organized in their CAD interface instead of having to type commands or trudge through complex menus. Any user would rather drag-and-drop symbols into a drawing than to have to hunt for them. Make directory structures intuitive. If users must look through directories, make them easy to navigate. Don’t put title blocks in the \\SERVER_ 05\SHAREDCAD\BLOCKS FOLDER. Put them in the Q:\BLOCKS directory, which more users understand. Obviously, I’ve only scratched the surface here, but I think you’ll see the point. Users are more likely to follow your standards if you make it easy for them to do so. And setting up your CAD environment to be both standard and easy to use is like achieving CAD standards Nirvana. Keep asking how to make standards easier to use, and everyone will embrace them, guaranteed. Web Resources American Institute of Architect’s Contract Documents www.aia.org/docs_default The AIA publishes a software package ($979) called Contract Documents that provides a great starting point for preparing contracts. Why reinvent the wheel when you can use this resource? At minimum you may want to check out the demo version to get an idea of what sort of contract language you should be using. The AIA Web site also has a wealth of information on CAD standards available. Just search using “CAD Standards” as a parameter. U.S. National CAD Standard 4 www.nationalcadstandard.org Skewed towards design, construction, and facilities industries in the United States, the U.S. National CAD Standard is a software package licensed for use on one or many computers in your company and starts at $410 per seat. The Web site provides a great deal of specific information about 2D standards as well as the evolution of building information management standards. Make It Binding If your company fits the contracting model I discussed above, you’ll want to contractually bind your suppliers to use your CAD standards. The easiest way I know to achieve this goal is to make CAD standards a part of your overall job contract. To this end, check the AIA Contract Documents (see “Web Resources” sidebar) for an excellent starting point. If Contract Documents seems like overkill for your company, remember that where CAD standards are concerned, nothing is binding until you have it in contract form. So, at minimum, make sure you’ve got a basic contract with a copy of your CAD standards signed by any firm with whom you work to assure its compliance with your standards. You’ll be glad you did. nization, and ease of use as you continually revise standards for your company. Each iterative loop should get a little easier until you ultimately get your standards under control. Of course, new clients, projects, and software changes could cause periodic overhauls of standards, but that is the nature of changing technology. The main point I want to make is that CAD standards are a never-ending, evolutionary process. Summing Up Setting up a CAD standards program is a lot more than writing a dry technical document. In most cases, it is at least as much about efficiency and psychology as it is about technology. In fact, the truly successful CAD managers I know approach CAD standards as a unified combination of all these factors. Robert Green performs CAD programming and consulting throughout the United States and Canada. His new book, Expert CAD Management: The Complete Guide is now available. Reach him via his Web site at www.cad-manager.com. 39 Make It Easy Look at the first-draft standards you’ve produced and ask yourself, “How can I make these standards easy to follow?” Here are a few examples of what you can do to make your standards accessible for users (they’ll love them) and May 2008 cadalyst www.cadalyst.com Adjust and Repeat Simply go back to the beginning of the process and reassess motivations, problems, company type, data orga- http://www.aia.org/docs_default http://www.nationalcadstandard.org http://www.cad-manager.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - May 2008

Cadalyst - May 2008 Contents Editor's Window Cad Central A Solid Job in AutoCAD Today’s Power — Quad-Core Workstations Performance — Tomorrow’s Possibilities Reverse Engineering an Antique Italian Treasure Trends in Reverse Engineering NextEngine 3D Scanner — Reverse-Engineering Tool Setting CAD Standards Fight for Your Hardware Rights The Jack and Jill of Ergonomics Technology for Civil Infrastructure Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Shortcuts and Solutions

Cadalyst - May 2008

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