I N T H I S I S S U E
Calculating Return on Effort - How small updates equal major
savings
CAD Manager - your pain, everyone's gain
Sidetracked Users - When they should give up and move on - some problems
may never get fixed
Survey Says - Do you DWF or PDF?
A R T I C L E S
Calculating Return on Effort - How Small updates equal Major
savings
CAD Managers are called on to do many things. One area that they
constantly need to focus on is productivity. Small adjustments to your
environment can reap big rewards over the course of time. But we have to
weight the benefit against the cost.
Applying productivity tools and tweaks to AutoCAD is always a good idea
because the return is spread over a long period of time and with many users.
“… when you are going to tweak an application to improve its
throughput, you want an application that will generalize and be of long
term value -- fixing an application that will only be used one time, or
which is of interest to a very limited audience, reduces the payoff
associated with the effort you're putting in.” - Joe St. Sauver, Ph.D.,
Director of User Services and Network Applications at the University of
Oregon Computing Center.
These adjustments may be large, like upgrading to the next release of
software or buying a new plotter. Some may come in smaller forms like a new
AutoLISP routine, making a refinement in the CAD Standard or just fixing a
bad block that is causing problems to multiple files.
Whatever form these adjustments take it most often includes the process
of defining the “Return On Effort” (ROE). I use Return on Effort because
most often the CAD Manager does not have to spend money to save money. So
there is no investment in dollars, yen or pesos. It is just a matter of
effort being expended (albeit manhours)
Most of us go through ROE calcs in our lives. We may use them to justify
the effort of getting off the couch and doing some exercise to loose
weight. Is it worth the effort?
More on the Web...
CAD Manager - your pain, everyone's gain
Whenever the CAD Manager has to work through an issue or troubleshoot a
system it takes time and sometimes PAIN. This pain is the cost of
being a CAD Manager and it comes with the territory. We, as CAD
Managers, are use to it. Taking on someone else's troubles and getting
them back into productive work.
Working on other peoples problems is what CAD Management is all about.
It can get taxing at times and sometimes we think that it is not worth it.
But it is.
Your pain equals much gain for all of your users and clients. Each
time you work through a stubborn problem then it relieves the office from
going through the same pain.
Here are some tips to maximize your efforts...
More on the Web...
Sidetracked Users - When they should Give Up and Move On
I have noticed that some users get fixated on problems and spend hours of
time on some small annoying problem that is bothering them. They
discover or stumble into some particular rough spot and begin to wonder why
the system is not operating the way they think it should. They often
come across some real failure in the software or their file that halts their
progress.
Users can sometime get derailed into trying to fix their own problems.
If there is a CAD Manager available - it is their job, no the users.
The users need to stay productive and on task and not get sidelined into
troubleshooting.
Here are some thoughts about getting them back on track...
More on the Web...
May 2006 - Survey Says
Apparently DWF is not king in sharing CAD
generated data. PDF is on top by a long shot!
While a large number (35%) of you responded that you do
actual create DWF files, you also stated that you overwhelmingly (87% - see below)
do not use them for data exchange. An amazing number (97%) say they
are making PDF files. Boy - Adobe must love that? or are they
using other tools? (Maybe I should have asked)
See the results from
May 2006
Take the June Survey - Where do you get training?
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CADD Manager Journal is a publication of the Core Technology
Group
Editor: Mark W. Kiker
mark.kiker@caddmanager.com
© 2006 by CTG.
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