CAD Manager's Newsletter (#445)

Support Better Workflows with CAD Standards 3.0

CAD managers who get bogged down in bits and bytes without seeing the larger workflow picture will always struggle. To achieve the best project outcomes as efficiently as possible, you must standardize workflows.

In the previous edition of the CAD Manager's Newsletter, we continued our discussion of CAD standards in the age of CAD Management 3.0 by refocusing on the most basic standards there are: filing standards. After all, if you can't secure and store the design files your users produce, then what's the point of standards at all? But what about moving beyond these basic standards into a more advanced discussion — and how might we approach that from a communications and psychology standpoint?

This time around, I'll provide some strategies for building your standards program by talking about workflows rather than just CAD standards. As we go along, I think you'll see how this simple shift in how to approach standards can greatly increase your chance of success. Here goes.

What Are Workflows?

The definition of a workflow seems to vary, but for our purposes, let's define a workflow as a process by which work moves, or flows, into or out of an office/department. Pretty generic, right? Well, yes, but we'll make it CAD-specific by considering how CAD tools are used to receive, process, and send out design content.

So given this definition, let's consider the following questions:

As you can already imagine, there are CAD standards lurking in the answers to these questions. For example, "How do we receive CAD work?" can involve software products, versions, file types, and transmission methods.

Better Workflows Inform Standards

Now consider your workflows from the standpoint of what could be better, and what is broken in your current environment. For example, you can think of the first question,

How do we receive CAD work from customers, vendors, other departments?

as

How can we best receive CAD work?

and

What causes the most problems with receiving CAD work today?

Now you're starting to think about making your workflows better by critically examining what's broken (so you can fix it), and what can be done better (so you can optimize it). This critical thought process will lead to better workflows and will transform how you approach standards.

Why? Because you're now thinking about standards in the right way: as small parts of workflows that make it simpler, easier, and cheaper to get work done. Now you've made the creative leap into what standards should really be about! Now you're thinking about workflow standards.

Not Just Standards — Workflow Standards

The goal of creating any workflow is to get things done optimally, right? So doesn't it stand to reason that anything you do to define a workflow should result in processes that use the fewest steps, least labor, and lowest possible rate of error to achieve a work outcome?

Does this whole concept sound a lot like standards? Yes it does! So why not just call it standards then? Several reasons:

Think about how your job is really to manage CAD workflows, and how CAD standards are a part of that process. CAD managers who realize that they need to standardize workflows to achieve the best project outcomes as efficiently as possible are on the right track. CAD managers who get bogged down in bits and bytes without seeing the larger workflow picture will always struggle. Read more »
 

Tools and Resources

ASCENT Announces 2021 Autodesk Courseware Roadmap
ASCENT — Center for Technical Knowledge, a publisher and developer of Autodesk curricula, has released learning materials for core Autodesk 2021 software titles including AutoCAD, Autodesk Civil 3D, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Revit for Architecture, and Autodesk Revit for MEP. In total, the company plans to publish more than 50 new titles for Autodesk 2021 software, including self-paced eLearning courses.
 

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