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.