Top Ten CAD Manager Failures - the First Five

CAD Managers have many opportunities to succeed. Getting things organized and running efficiently. It could be setting up processes and procedures. It might include moving from chaos to clarity. It may be your efforts to unifying the users. Yes there are many, many was of succeeding.

There are also many opportunities for failure. We have all seen challenges and obstacles. Some seem to exist at every firm. Some seem to be created by the users or management. Some may be created by financial restrictions. Some come to us by the technology limitations of our hardware or software.

Most of opportunities for failure come upon us from beyond our control. They require us to apply resources and solutions that are a combination of our talent, training and technology to turn them into successes. But sometimes opportunities for failure are created by those who are focused on success and they don’t even know it. I want to take a look at some of them.

I have stepped into every one of these at some point. They are the things that might happen to you if you are not careful to avoid them. Here are some of these areas –in no particular order.

Read the First Five...

BIM Conversations

I talk a lot about BIM. I hear others talking a lot about BIM. I hear and read from experts, pendants, gurus and more about BIM. There is a lot of conversation going about BIM. I have noticed that the conversations surrounding BIM tend to fall into three categories. I have shown them below as being interrelated and I think they are. They are often intertwined, overlapping and subordinate to each other on a rotating basis.

The three categories for these conversations are BIM Promise, BIM Process and BIM Platforms Since they overlap and are interwoven, there tends to be confusion related to what is being talked about in any given conversation. Some conversations remain strict in there scope and others move from one area to another.

 

Here is how I define the boundaries of each area.

Read the rest online...

I had a chance at the end of last year to have a virtual interview with Ed Mueller, Chief Marketing Officer of Bentley Systems.  It was in the form of  questions and answers.

Here you go...

How do you think CAD technology will impact the nation’s infrastructure in 2009? How is Bentley poised to provide this?

Information modeling will still be the means used to design our nation’s infrastructure in 2009, much as it was in 2008. At Bentley, however, we believe that this technology can do a lot more in 2009, thanks to V8i. The result will be better-performing projects, delivering better-performing assets, while consuming the fewest nonrenewable resources. So, for instance, the V8i products that make up Bentley’s buildings solution will enable designers to use applications not just to draft buildings, but to design the site with civil engineering software, analyze its energy performance and structural integrity, and perform construction scheduling without leaving the V8i environment. This, of course, contributes greatly to better-performing infrastructure.

More on the web about CAD...

There is a big push toward BIM. What is Bentley doing to advance this push?

Our BIM software empowers the design, construction, and operation of all types of buildings and facilities around the world, from the conventional to some of the most inspiring projects of our time. Because BIM has become a new way to approach the design and documentation of building projects, distributed teams can now share information more effectively throughout the building lifecycle and make better-informed decisions.

While CAD has served the AEC community valuably for decades, it has largely been used as an aid to documentation. BIM builds on the capabilities of CAD through discipline-specific applications that inform and enhance design, construction, and operations as well. BIM not only manages graphics, but also information that allows the automatic generation of drawings and reports, design analysis, schedule simulation, and facilities management.

More on the web about BIM...

I created a new blog specifically for BIM Management issues. I will be blogging on the people and process side of BIM.  Some of these topics may overlap with CAD Management, but many will specifically address BIM.  I just started this - so stay tuned as more content is added.

Go to the BIM Manager Blog

January 2009 Poll