Topic: Looking for advice and opinions on manual

[jonesy]

Having just completed the first draft of our new company manual. I thought I would ask the opinions of the experienced cad managers.

If people could let me know what they think about the content of the manual. Comments good and bad are welcome (as long as they are constructive )

http://www.theswamp.org/lilly_pond/jonesy/CAD%20Manual%20for%20swamp.doc?nossi=1

I would also like the opinions of some general cad operators, as to whether they would find working to these standards easy.

Thanks in advance for you input

Tracey
(newbee Cad Manager!)

[Oak3s]

without knowing the number of users you are issuing this manual to my first thought was, for a small office this would be good. something simple running though set up to ploting. i really liked the part about not copying an old project to start a new one....i hate those unused layer filters and such. something i would suggest is adding something about customization. the users limits. i noticed autocad 2005 LT is in the manual so maybe there arnt any lisp routins being used. but i would think it important that for standars reasons users should be using the same routines. just a thought. also, and this isnt really a 'manual' comment but a procedure comment. when we recieve electronic files its usually for an x-ref. so we zip them up and name them according to the date recieved. then we extract the drawings and clean them up for our own use. like killing the layer filters and things. basicly a purge. just to make them clean and small for our x-ref. this is just an idea. for some fields this wouldnt matter as much.
hope this helps. other than that, i liked the flow of the manual you have going.

[Bob Garner]

I think pretty clear and concise.  

I suggest you note that the As Built stamp should be added to drawings only after the drawing as been revised to As Built status (if that is what you do).

We don't like to check drawings on-screen because we like to have a paper trail of the QA process, but I defer to you on that.

My best,

Bo

[jonesy]

i noticed autocad 2005 LT is in the manual so maybe there arnt any lisp routins being used. but i would think it important that for standars reasons users should be using the same routines. just a thought.

The company I work for has about 15 regular cad technicians, + some engineers like to do their own stuff occaisionally. We have a mix of cad (thankfully all autocad) The regulars get the full monty but the engineers etc have LT. It is my intention to have an office menubar with all the manual linked to it, plus any lisp files etc we use. The manual also has a step by step "guide" on how to create a new scheme, but I didnt include that or the all the hints and tips as I didnt want to put people on this site off proof reading it.
 

also, and this isnt really a 'manual' comment but a procedure comment. when we recieve electronic files its usually for an x-ref. so we zip them up and name them according to the date recieved. then we extract the drawings and clean them up for our own use. like killing the layer filters and things. basicly a purge. just to make them clean and small for our x-ref. this is just an idea. for some fields this wouldnt matter as much.
hope this helps. other than that, i liked the flow of the manual you have going.

I think thats a good idea about adding the layer filter and purge to the incoming drawings area. Will do that.
Thanks very much for your comments. At least it doesnt look like I have too much work left to do to the manual - just the hard graft of getting the menu and other systems in place and then making people use it. Thanks again

Tracey

[jonesy]

I think pretty clear and concise.  

I suggest you note that the As Built stamp should be added to drawings only after the drawing as been revised to As Built status (if that is what you do).

Will do, thanks

We don't like to check drawings on-screen because we like to have a paper trail of the QA process, but I defer to you on that.

We have been having cad user meetings and people generally felt that wherever possible work should be checked on the screen, but personally I would like to see printed out drawings for a check (even if it is ok it would be nice to see an OK in the project file), I have found that eyes tend to miss things on a screen, especially if you have been working on it a while.
Do you have full size drawings for checking, or just half size, and do these prints get filed away in the scheme folder?

Thanks for your input. It was useful.
Tracey

[Bob Garner]

We use half-size for checking.  Our company is really big on quality control.  We prepare a lot of drawings for construction projects and many other U.S. engineers have gotten bad reputations for turning out crap.  So we check, check, and double check and then leave a paper trail.  The process ain't cheap but we're subject to law suits if we make mistakes.

Happy Friday!

Bob

[Bob]

Jonsey,

Is there any way that you could write your conditions of contract to get drawings received in a better format off suppliers.

For major capital jobs (say over £5M) we place all responsibility on the supplier to check, purge etc, before the final contract set has been submitted. We make it a part of the payment (last 10%) then you'll be surprised how nice the supplier can be. (Usually beancounters sign the conditions of contract and are not aware of the drawing requirements). It can save man_years on registering thousands of drawings into our system.

[jonesy]

Is there any way that you could write your conditions of contract to get drawings received in a better format off suppliers.

At this time, I am not sure. I have only just been promoted to the cad managers role. Getting the drawing standards, and menus in place, and the subsequent training that will be neccessary to produce consistantly good quality drawings is at the top of my list in manager mode. (As well as producing the drawings)

Thanks for your input, it is something I have put on my "To Do" list
Regards
Tracey