CAD Administration Help

[Brndn_4]

My company is in dire need of
CAD-related assistance. There are a few people here and there that know more
than others about the main CAD software we use (Pro/E), in conjunction with our
parts, but that is the extent of our CAD-related knowledge bank and/or
administration. We have not had a CAD Administrator for years now and things
are falling apart. Configuration files and standards are unbelievably
out-dated. When someone needs help with something, they either stumble with it
on their own for hours and hopefully come up with some sort of solution, ask
one of the few people mentioned above (if they are even available/around at the
time), peruse forums such as this until they find an answer (like myself), or
give up and put a rather unpleasant Band-Aid on whatever they are doing just to
get the job done. Well, I am sure you all are aware of what happens when too
many Band-Aids are compounded and that is exactly what is happening now.





Over the past year and a half I
have learned a tremendous amount about the software (Pro/E), data management
(PLM systems), and already have a substantial background with general computing
knowledge. That aside, I learn very quickly and am good at researching/figuring
out things on my own. Aside from witnessing the mayhem, the aforementioned details
have helped me and various others realize what a predicament we are in and I
seem to be one of the only people around that is willing to take the time and
dedicate the effort to do something about it. With all that said, here are my
questions:

1. Though many things could encompass the term, what do YOU
   believe is involved with being a CAD Administrator?
2. What are the core functions
   of a CAD Administrator?
3. What training, degree(s), or general knowledge should
   one have to be qualified for the position?

My boss is becoming more and more
aware of our situation and is willing to allow me to dedicate my time to
becoming the person responsible for cleanup and management duties, much like a
CAD Administrator would do. For now this is the best we can come up with and I am
willing to give it an honest effort for the sake of my company and career.





I would like to compare your
responses with both the needs of my company and my current skill level to come
up with a list of self-improvements and/or training/schooling needs so that I
can better address our company-wide issues and get the ball rolling on some solutions.







Any responses or quick tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.


Edited by: Brndn_4

 

[mardeb]

I am the CAD / PLM Manager for a SMB. I work with about 40 Pro/E users and 120 Windchill Users. Like you, I came from a CAD designer / engineer background and startedpicking up more administrative tasks partly out of self-defense and partly out of interest and aptitude.


To answer Question 1: I think that the CAD Admin needs to straddle Engineering and IT needs, the needs of the users with the needs of the business. These needs are not always in agreement. The Admin is a facilitator and an enabler, we enable the CAD jockeys to get the real work done and done efficiently.


For Question 2: I break down my core functions as follows: Support, Efficiency, Standards and Best Practices, Training, Reporting, Planning and Budgets, Staff Development, and New Technologies. I have listed these in order of importance as well.


For example,Support is the highest priority, because if someone is down and not able to work, they are the most important issue at that moment. Support includes supporting users, as well as supporting the software, and supporting the hardware.


User support is one on one mentoring, problem solving, etc.


Software support is calling Tech Support, upgrading, licenses, and maintenance. There could be some IT department overlap here.


Hardware support is maintenance of existing workstations, printers, plotters, and maybe servers. As well as a plan for purchasing new hardware. Most likely some IT overlap here as well.


As far as training goes, if you have been running Pro/ENGINEER for a while, you no doubt have that area covered pretty well. Other areas to consider training in would be for the data management side, Windchill for example. As well as IT topics: networking, system architecture, and the like. Perhaps a management class or two to help deal with co-workers, managers, and maybedirect reports.


Good Luck!

 

[dhlewis]

I am in entire agreement with mardeb above. I have been a CAD Administrator/Network Administrator for 20 Years. The only thing to add is the importance of the Overlap to IT. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
The more a CAD Administrator knows about the core systems that the software and network runs on, the better off he will be. If you know Client OS, Server OS, and Networking, you know the true limitations that drive what you can do with your Engineering Applications. And when you need to ask IT to set up or configure a server, you will know exactly what is involved and what kind of expectations to set for completion. Also when you ask for something in their lingo and in great detail, it usually has a way of getting done quicker and with less opertunity for failure.
The CAD Administrator actually usually has to become the expert that IT will go to for anything Engineering related. With IT organizations being downsized all over the place, the focus usually changes from Departmental requirements to Enterprise requirements and architecture. And the departmental high end Application/Software needs will get ignored, unless there is a CAD or Engineering Sys Admin in their court.
Continue on your current road and don't forget to focus more on the IT courses. Enough so that you understand how everything integrates and can jump in if things don't get done right from the IT side. Also little things like Batch file programming and other backend systems tools will be very valuable as you go forward.
Good Luck, and Welcome to the start of our profession!

 

[Brndn_4]

I'm currently compiling all of the info you've given me and when finished, will start applying it to the needs/areas of my company where they apply. Though you've given me quite the substantial amount of information thus far, do you think you could expand upon those topics (Efficiency, Standards and Best Practices, Training, Reporting,
Planning and Budgets, Staff Development, and New Technologies) a bit or just give an example with each, similar to what you did with Support? It would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

I am the CAD / PLM Manager for a SMB. I work with about 40 Pro/E users and 120 Windchill Users. Like you, I came from a CAD designer / engineer background and startedpicking up more administrative tasks partly out of self-defense and partly out of interest and aptitude.


To answer Question 1: I think that the CAD Admin needs to straddle Engineering and IT needs, the needs of the users with the needs of the business. These needs are not always in agreement. The Admin is a facilitator and an enabler, we enable the CAD jockeys to get the real work done and done efficiently.


For Question 2: I break down my core functions as follows: Support, Efficiency, Standards and Best Practices, Training, Reporting, Planning and Budgets, Staff Development, and New Technologies. I have listed these in order of importance as well.


For example,Support is the highest priority, because if someone is down and not able to work, they are the most important issue at that moment. Support includes supporting users, as well as supporting the software, and supporting the hardware.


User support is one on one mentoring, problem solving, etc.


Software support is calling Tech Support, upgrading, licenses, and maintenance. There could be some IT department overlap here.


Hardware support is maintenance of existing workstations, printers, plotters, and maybe servers. As well as a plan for purchasing new hardware. Most likely some IT overlap here as well.


As far as training goes, if you have been running Pro/ENGINEER for a while, you no doubt have that area covered pretty well. Other areas to consider training in would be for the data management side, Windchill for example. As well as IT topics: networking, system architecture, and the like. Perhaps a management class or two to help deal with co-workers, managers, and maybedirect reports.


Good Luck!

 

[mardeb]

Okay, here are a few more thoughts: Please note that these are just my opinions, I am sure there are others out there with different or better ideas than mine. (This ended up longer than I wanted, but there is more I left out, so I hope this will be helpful.)


Also note that a lot of these subjects reinforce each other. Looking to improve efficiency? Maybe users need training. Training needs feed into Planning and Budgets.


Support:


Users, Software and Hardware support as disscussed.


Efficiency:


Work with management and others to improve Engineering department processes. Look for bottlenecks, out-dated procedures, etc... For example, are you still routing around paper approvals for revisions when a PDM system function could do that quicker?


Use 6 Sigma and Lean Process improvement ideas. Also improvements will come from the other areas as well. Improvements through Standards and Best Practices, or Training, or hardware / software upgrades.


Standards and Best Practices:


Standards are (IMHO) objects. Things thatHAVE to be done. Such as formats, templates, start parts, etc. Standardize everything that makes sense. Write them down in a company standard, get everyone to buy off and sign off on it. There should be NO exceptions to a Standard. Just remember, the great thing about Standards, are that there are SO many to choose from.


Best Practices (again, IMHO) are processes. These are the best way to implement the standards. How to fill out a format or titleblock, How to use the start parts. Modeling Guidelines, Do's and Don'ts, etc... They might be the best way, but not the only way, so you should encourage their use, but not mandate it. There will be exceptions to Best Practices.


Training:


Training can be as simple as 30 minutes of one on one tutoring or as complex as Upgrade training for Wildfire for all the engineering department with outside instructors.


The best place to start with training is with a skills assessment, this can be formal or informal, but you need to determine who knows what, and who needs what training. You can ask people, but you don't know, what you don't know.


Tool training on the software itself can be done either in house or out of house by a VAR.


Methods training almost has to be done in-house. Methods training is training for your companies methods and procedures and best practices. In fact the Best Practice documents you create are a great starting point for training.


Combined training is both Tools and Methods training and is a customized course, most likely taught internally, but you could work with a VAR to fold in your Best Practices with the standard Wildfire training materials, for example.


Training methods and choices are mainly determined by available budget in my experience. With economic crunches, the first thing to go is the training budget.


Reporting:


This is fairly obvious, report what you are doing and what you have done on a regular basis to your management as well as your users. This is a bit of CYA and selling yourself as well. You want to show everyone what you have been doing to make things better. Tell the users so they know that there is a new Best Practice that will make their life easier. Tell management how much time the new Best Practice will save the company.


Planning and Budgets:


Start planning for next year now. What Projects do you want to get done? How complex are they? How much will it cost? Start a log or file of possible projects and keep adding to it as ideas come along. That way in December when the boss asks for it, you are half way there.


For budgets, show ROI as well as what it will cost. The budget document might be the only document some of the upper management sees from you all year so make sure it is done right. No typos or mistakes, clear and concise.


Justify or provide an ROI for most if not all budgetary items. Saying that new workstations are 25% faster and will save the company valuable engineering time makes more business sense than saying, "But the new Dells are so COOL!"


Ask upper management what the plans for expansion or changeare. New acquisitions? Selling off a division? These events will affect you and your planning.


Staff Development:


Create a development plan for yourself. Where are the gaps that need bridging? We talked a bit about this before, so I won't rehash that.


Create a user group composed of your best / most influenctial users. If you did a formal Skills Assessment, look at the results of that for candidates. Bounce ideas off of the User Group, meet on a regular basis, and take ideas from them for Best Practices, etc... A User Group is a good test bed for software updates, new procedures, and other changes as well.


New Technologies:


Lastly, keep an eye out for new technology that will improve things and make life easier. New plotters, workstations, software, or servers. What will be the next big thing?


Pro/E didn't always exist. What is the next big thing to hit CAD departments? Don't jump too early, but don't get blindsided as well. Explicit modeling for example has been heating up lately. Is that something to consider moving to?

 

[Brndn_4]

Thank you very much for all of your help. I've read over the responses numerous times, trying to get as much from them as I could, along with creating an outline of sorts from the information provided. Unfortunately, I've recently been assigned other things to do (even though the outstanding CADmin matters are more important) so I have to push this all aside temporarily. That's partially why it's taken me so long to reply as well. I'm really trying to get through everything on my plate to focus on the issues outlined in this thread, but I'm not sure when that could be.

I'm sure you're well aware of how that goes...

...but since it's partially a passion of mine, it takes precedence over other matters in my mind.

Edited by: Brndn_4

 

[proximo]

I am the CAD & Administration Manager for Engineering. I have over 18+ years experience and maintain separate facilities.

CAD Administration can be a hard position to describe and appreciate. I have ran across problems with an official job description because it does not exist. If HR looks on-line for CAD Administrator and the education path required, it will not be found.

Because of this we have very little information that we can rely on and at the same time make sure it's understood by the top brass.

I can add things to what was already said by mardeb because it's a position that can cover so many areas and changes according to the environment your working in.

Mardeb did an Awesome job describing the CAD Administrator position and provided more details than I have seen by anyone else.

Thank you Mardeb. I agree with you completely and your contribution to this post will benefit many existing CAD Administrators. I already copied the contents into a Word Document for filing because you did such a great job.

Yes there are always different situations and things that can be added to this discussion, but based on my experience I honestly believe that Mardeb covered the majority of what needs to be said.

Thanks again Mardeb.

 

[mardeb]

Thanks for the kind words. I hope it helps.


I would be interested in other's thoughts and input too. As proximo said, this is a hard position to describe and appreciate. We gotta help each other when we can.