Bobby C. Jones: CAD Management

AutoCAD Top Ten List

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:07:04 GMT

I've used AutoCAD for a long time and just like any long term relationship with an inanimate pile of 1's and 0's it is deep love/hate relationship. Below is my list of the top 10 items that I love about AutoCAD. Some of them refer to CAD in general and some are more geared towards the vertical applications and the new B.I.M. applications, but they all originated with my use of AutoCAD.

#10 - Vertical Applications
AutoCAD can be used to draw wiring diagrams, circuit boards, auto bodies, engines, buildings, foliage and just about anything else that you can imagine. The vertical applications take AutoCAD and target it, using many of the items on this list, to specific industries. Being in the residential housing industry we use ADT to design and create construction documents. We also do a bit of site development and we use Civil 3D. We are looking hard at the MEP packages as well. I hope this trend continues expand to cover additional industries and to shrink to cover niche industries, like the residential housing industry that has very specific needs beyond the general needs of the architectural and construction industry as a whole.

#9 - Fields
Fields give us the ability to input information in one location and have it display in multiple locations. Changing the source updates all other instances. Fields also give us the ability to report via text the properties of graphically defined objects.

#8 - The 3rd dimension
Most designers, regardless of their field, form a mental image of their design before they put it on paper. I'm willing to bet their mental image is not a 2d piece of paper. The ability to take that 3D image out of your head and show it to someone else in the same format is very powerful indeed.

#7 - Multiple Undo
Design is very sloppy process. This tool, yes it is a tool, allows a bit of freedom and fluidity to explore multiple design ideas without the need to save each and every iteration along the way. Although I'm the first to admit that saving an occasional iteration is a great idea.

#6 - The powers of association
There's no way to overstate the power of logically associating one object to another. Associating some lines and text into a dimension object or a hatch object to its boundary objects is something we now take for granted. The vertical applications are taking this to the next level. For instance, in ADT door objects are associated to wall objects and door tag objects are associated to the doors. Move a wall and the doors move with it, and because the doors moved the tags moved too. Change the size of the door and the tag updates to show the new size and the wall adjusts to fit the modified door. There are 3rd party packages that take this to the next level and associate framing members to the the walls and the doors and windows in them. I do see a bit of danger if this idea is taken so far that the software tries to outsmart the designer running it. Or maybe I've just watched The Terminator one to many times.

#5 - Style based objects
Style based objects are the ultimate tool for those designers that have a hard time making a final decision.

"I know that I need a window here, but should it be a rectangular window or an archtop window, or maybe I should go for broke and make it an oval."

Style based objects make it extremely easy to put in a window of one style and change it to another. Styles have been around for a while, even in straight AutoCAD. Text and dimension styles have been bread and butter tools for CAD Managers and power users for many years. I can't imagine drawing without them.

#4 - Blocks
Blocks have been with us for so long that we don't even think about how important they are to us. Close your eyes and imagine working with AutoCAD without blocks. No grouping of primitives into meaningful symbols, no symbols libraries, no mass updating of symbols, etc... Did it send a shiver of dread up your spine? It does mine.

#3 - Customization
Every industry, every company within an industry, and every individual within a company has their own procedures and workflow. The ability to customize AutoCAD to fit into that workflow is invaluable. Our company is currently looking at a variety of initiatives and we are realizing that our workflow will need to change to accommodate them. It is very comforting to know that I can customize AutoCAD to fit into that workflow and not the other way around.

#2 - Ubiquity
If you are drafting then you are either using AutoCAD, have used AutoCAD, have to deal with AutoCAD drawings, or at the very least have heard of AutoCAD and compared your software to it. One of the biggest challenges that I may have to deal with as a CAD Manager if we switch to a non-AutoCAD based software is training. Right now I can place an add for drafters in the local paper and rest assured that 95% of the applicants already know base AutoCAD and I will not need to train them at that level.

#1 - Users
And the number one thing that I like about using AutoCAD. Yep, it's you. I have met so many people and found that instant connection because we both work and fight with AutoCAD on a daily basis. From local user groups, to regional and national gatherings like AUGI CAD Camps and Autodesk University, and to online communities like the Autodesk discussion groups, AUGI, and The Swamp, you can hardly swing a dead mouse around by its USB cord without hitting a fellow AutoCAD user in the head.

There's my list, how does it compare to yours?

Next we'll look at the top 10 items that I hate about AutoCAD.

Technorati tags: CAD Management

Hanging Pictures With Shoes

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 15:49:17 GMT

I am by no stretch of the word old; unless of course you ask my children who may have a different opinion. But I will admit that I have lost a step or two to old man time. In years past I could read something once and it was committed to short term memory; committed at least long enough to pass the quiz the next day. Now however, I find that I must read and re-read certain things in order to understand and memorize them. I'm hoping that this is just the result of picking up poor reading and memory habits. So I bought a book on speed reading and reading comprehension.

I'm still in the early chapters, but it has given me a couple of tools that will help me break my bad reading habits. After explaining these tools, and while giving some encouragement on using them, the author said something that sounded awfully familiar.

You'll always reach for the old familiar ones until you become used to the new ones. Then you'll pick the best tool for the job.

I have seen, and repeated, this exact same advise, in varying contexts, countless times. It is just a fact of life so ingrained into my everyday living that I don't really think about it anymore. But I constantly see this principle being fought, at home and at work.

We don't need this new BIM software. It's expensive, it's hard to learn, it's different than what we're using now.
I don't need to learn VBA or .NET. LISP does everything that I need.
We can't use offshore drafting services. We have a hard enough time training staff here on site.

I'm not saying that the reasons given in any of these scenarios aren't valid. But the person giving these excuses likely doesn't have enough, if any, experience with the alternate tools to make an educated decision on which is best for which job. They know their one tool, they know how to manipulate it to do any job, and they'll use it even if they have to jump through incredible hoops to do so. I know, because I have been the acrobat contorting my body and jumping through flaming hoops suspended hundreds of feet in the air to get from point A to point B. If I had taken the time to learn a new tool I could have simply walked the short straight distance between A & B. And the next time a similar problem arose I would have been empowered with the ability to choose between two tools to get the job done.

So the next time your spouse picks up a nail and a strappy little Manolo Blahnik to hang that shot of Rusty catching his first Frisbee, gently remove the $500 shoe from their eager little hands and give them a $3 hammer.

Technorati tags: CAD management

Qualities of a Good CAD Test

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:50:31 GMT

In my career I have been asked to take surprisingly few CAD tests. There is only one that I can remember. The engineer interviewing me asked what was the best method to fill an irregular shaped area in AutoCAD. He was looking for hatch, I told him hatch, and I passed the test with a 100, A+. To this day I don't understand how he found that useful. But that was his litmus test and he was happy with it. Even though I never had a serious CAD test in my career, now, as a CAD manager, I find them an invaluable tool.

A good CAD test will tell me a lot about a potential employee. An interview tells you a lot about a person that a CAD test won't, but a CAD test is where the rubber meets the road. There is no lying about your experience or misrepresenting yourself on a CAD test. The question is, "What makes a good CAD test?"

A good CAD test tests for specific industry knowledge or a specific skill set. I'm adding a section to our test that asks the interviewee to label a wall section. I know many drafters that can lay down lines all day long representing walls, but ask them how to build a wall and you'll get the blank stare of a deer caught in your headlights.
It lets me evaluate what level of CAD training someone has had, or how much they need, or even how much they can give. You'll know right away if you can train them on your standards and give them a project to run with the next day, or if you're going to need to put them with a mentor for a while.
It will evaluate drafting skills. Our test provides a plan view and a front elevation of a house. They are asked to extrapolate the side and rear elevations. I've seen more than a few great resumes paired with a great looking portfolio, but they choked on something as fundamental is this basic drafting skill.
It will evaluate problem solving skills. Our front elevation has a slight error that should be caught when creating the side elevations. This is an item that I don't deduct a great amount for if it's missed, but I do add to their score if it's caught and corrected.
It will evaluate CAD skills; it is a CAD test after all. I give a hands on test, not a question and answer type test. The hands on test shows me if they are using layers, blocks, object snaps, and other basic CAD skills.
It will also give an idea of how well a person performs under pressure. An interview is a stressful time. A CAD test during an interview adds a little more stress. Make your tests timed, just to tighten the screws a little bit more. It's nice to know up front how well someone will respond when it's time to buckle down and meet the much too fast approaching deadline when half the office is decimated with the gastrointestinal infection that the boss brought back from his summer vacation to the islands. Just don't go too far with this idea; you don't want to scare them off before the interview is over.

From the view of a potential employee there may be some mixed feelings about taking a CAD test. Most people will feel some level of anxiety. That is normal and is to be expected. There are a few that see a test as a way to show off their skills. I start grading a test, looking for these qualities, while explaining the rules to the interviewee. I don't deduct for those that are nervous, but I do add points for those whose fingers are itching to prove their mettle. I've heard of some interviewees taking offense when asked to take a CAD test, and actually refusing to take it. I've never interviewed anyone that has expressed any offense, but if someone did refuse, I simply wouldn't hire them.

So test away, remove the chaffe from the wheat. And if you're not up to developing a test of your own, just ask them if they know how to use the hatch command.

Technorati tags: cad management

CAD Manager Mistake #2

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:08:09 GMT

Don't know everything.

In CAD Manager Mistake #1, I talked about how dangerous it is to be too valuable to your CAD users and how they are more than willing to let you do their work for them if you are willing to do it. Along those same lines, they will let you do all of their thinking if you are willing to do so.

As a CAD manager you know more about CAD software, construction methods, and drafting techniques than any of your users. With all that knowledge you can insert yourself as the top knowledge bank in the office. You can use this as a tool to climb your way into promotions and raises. Everyone will look up to you, the king of the mountain. And just like the game you played as a kid, someone will always be looking for a weakness, a way to knock you down so they can have their turn at the top. As exciting as that sounds, there is a better way.

Don't hoard your knowledge in a vain attempt to be strong. Instead, work hard to share it. Be a teacher and a mentor to your users every chance that you get. Focus your energies on the CAD managers and power users reporting to you. They will become your support network. Empower them to teach and mentor the CAD users below them, just as you do for them. This spreading of knowledge doesn't lesson you, it strengthens you exponentially with each leg that is added to your support network. Instead of fighting your way to the top, stepping on all in your path, you will be pushed to the top, carried on the shoulders of those that you've helped.

Technorati tags: Autocad, cad management

Technology Mishmash

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:49:42 GMT

I don't know about you, but I tend to keep an eye on a lot of tech projects that don't currently affect me, but have the potential to do so, directly or indirectly, sometime in the future.

One of them is the Mono Project. This open source project is an effort to create a runtime that allows .NET code to run in OS's other than Windows, such as Linux, Unix, and even Mac OS X. I've yet to try Mono and .NET on these OS's, but it's good to know that the technology I'm learning and using now, .NET on Windows, has the potential to make me a bit more multidimensional sometime in the future.

Another interesting project that I've yet to try is Second Life. Second Life is a 3D virtual world where you can interact with other people from around the real world. This intrigues me on a personal level as a computer gamer and as someone interested in mingling with a variety of people with different backgrounds, ideas, and cultures. On a professional level I'm intrigued by the thought of how this technology can be used to help architects and designers interact with their customers, again sometime in the future. Although at this past AU, Autodesk showcased a customer using it now.

Looking at these technologies separately, I never would have imagined them coming together. However, here is an interesting article on how the developers of Second Life have contributed to fixing memory leaks in Mono. This came about because the Second Life developers have been considering using Mono as their scripting engine runtime. I'm fascinated that these two completely unrelated technologies, at least unrelated to my unimaginative mind, have come together.

It is essential to our careers as CAD Managers to keep looking for these new technologies and new ways of combining existing technologies in order to keep ahead of the globalization curve. If you've observed an interesting technology mishmash, please shoot me a note and let me know about it!

Technorati tags: Second Life, Mono, .NET, cad management

CAD Manager Mistake #1

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:16:55 GMT

Don't make yourself too valuable.

When I took my current position we had a small corporate staff, less than 10 designers and drafters. I was supporting nearly 50 users, but most were in satellite offices, many of which had senior CAD staff or even CAD managers. These on site CAD gurus provided direct support to their users and only occasionally did a problem escalate up to me.

However, there were no CAD managers at the corporate office and I took it upon myself to provide top notch support to the corporate staff. After all, I was coming on as the top CAD manager dog and I felt that I needed to prove it. And with so few users, it really wasn't much of a time drain. I vowed to train these guys to be the elite of the company.

Within a couple of weeks there wasn't a wall cleanup, or hatch boundary, or odd osnap issue in the entire office that I wasn't personally fixing. Yes, you read that right. It only took them two weeks to train me. I've always been a fast learner.

Now our corporate office has quadrupled in size and our overall staff has more than doubled. My workload has grown exponentially with the size of the staff and my early mistake has come back to haunt me. There is still a small group of users that want me to stop what I'm doing every time they experience even the slightest anomaly in AutoCAD, and fix it for them.

I still encourage all of my users to come to me with their problems. However, now days they are more likely to receive a fishing lure than the fish. And I promise you that it is much more rewarding to guide a group of well equipped fisherman to a secret fishing hole, teeming with fish, than to manage gathering and delivering baskets of fish to a mob of empty handed beggars.

Technorati tags: autocad, cad management