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Overcoming Barriers to CAD Standardization
A recent 210-page study conducted by the National Institute for Standards
and Technology (NIST) calculated the total losses in efficiency for US
industry resulting from lack of interoperability using computer-aided
design, engineering, and software systems at 15.8 billion dollars in 2002.
One of the contributing factors to the interoperability problem is diversity
in CAD standards which inhibits the transfer and use of drawing data among
the participants in the design stage and the use of as-built drawings by
owner/operators.
The stakeholder groups interviewed for the NIST report all indicated that a
more seamless exchange of data would shorten design time, and it is an
established fact that there is inadequate standardization of how things are
represented in CAD drawings. CAD drawing standards need to be organized
around what you are designing rather than for using the functions of a
particular CAD program.
Slow Adoption of New Technology
Some firms have moved ahead while most are lagging behind using the methods
of the past. For example, new tools such as named plotstyles that can
represent real world objects for defining print properties have been
available in the last 5 upgrades of AutoCAD. However, more than 90% of
AutoCAD users are estimated to be still using colors to define printing
properties with a choice of color that represents the CAD function such as
line width and density. Layers are used to represent objects but groupings
vary as many firms use them to excess in also defining tiny elements for
different line patterns, line weights, and colors. The latter is now the job
of "unlimited" named plotstyles using a standard table with all properties
set "By Object" and alternate standard tables that can be selected at plot
time to override the properties set in the drawing as desired. This makes it
easier and safe to define standards that set the printing properties of some
elements by the object when it is reasonable to do so.
Free Standard of Best Practice Now Offered for AutoCAD
Management
Softco Engineering Systems is helping to cure the lack of adequate
standardization by offering S-MAN Advance Systems as a free standard of best
practice for AutoCAD management. Its methodology is all spawned from an
Object Coding System more extensive than layers where you independently
document all the real world objects you are working with, and define your
CAD system around that. Real world objects will never change while
technology advances. Pipes are still pipes, glazing is still glazing, roof
is still roof, text is text, named plotstyles handle all the properties put
on paper, and your layers define reasonable assemblies of objects.
How S-MAN Advance Systems are Designed to Help
When you have more commonality in how AutoCAD is implemented and used,
operators can see eye to eye on CAD standards. S-MAN Advance Systems offer
you a go-between that also provides standard procedures for scaling, layout,
detailing, and annotation. When user's follow these identical procedures and
work their CAD system around real world objects, they can agree on universal
industry standards for other particulars such as layer names, colors,
linetype names, lineweights, and plotstyle names. To promote the standard
more widely, Softco offers you a FREE license to use the S-MAN Advance
downloads and they are easily accessible from many of your popular CAD
sites.
Free User License Agreement for Multiple Stations and Branch
Offices
The User License Agreement permits you to install, deploy, and use an S-MAN
Advance System on multiple workstations either by installing it on each
computer or by configuring multi-station access over an internal network
based on your CAD Manager's installation. You are also permitted to
distribute non-compiled source files and user definable content to be used
by branch office deployments provided the branch office has obtained their
own copy of S-MAN Advance direct from Softco Engineering Systems or an
Authorized Dealer. This enables you to implement identical CAD standards for
CAD operators in branch offices owned, operated, and directed by the user or
its parent company. To copy and distribute the entire package to branch
offices requires special agreement in writing from Softco.
How the Standard Works
When you install S-MAN Advance, an organization of folders is installed
under an SMAN root folder, and a DATA root folder. The sub-folders are for
your CAD manager to develop, store backups, maintain, and deploy all source
files under classified naming conventions. These files document and define
the setups of the CAD standards you need, and the names of the system files
and organizational structure are the same for all industry versions. When
you see how to manage and use one implementation, you can easily manage and
use the systems for other disciplines.
The installation for each industry discipline provides you with its own
S-MAN shortcut which starts AutoCAD and loads the resources you have
developed for that discipline. Tutorials walk you through the process of
developing or upgrading to a well organized, high level, and fully
documented implementation that produces consistent output who ever uses the
systems.
There are more than 45 free productivity tools that standardize the way you
work. There are single click system resets, importing and exporting of
standard layering systems, importing standard textstyles and dimstyles, and
special tools to manage viewports in any drawing unit. You can switch units
and scales for different viewports, and draw standard annotations
automatically on correct layers grouping annotations by the associated
objects. Other tools apply standard plotstyles and lineweights according to
color when you migrate to Named Plotstyle drawings.
Each system comes with step by step tutorials on setting up your AutoCAD
system beginning with the S-MAN model system. In each package there is also
an industry specific CAD Manual PDF file. You can print out the CAD manual
and use it as a template with standard forms to either document your own
system, or just use it as a turnkey operation to get you started at a higher
level of development.
Turnkey CAD standards plug-ins, editable documentation templates in MS-Word,
CAD manual accessories, and other add-on tools are very affordably priced
and accessible from your Browser just by selecting "Add-on Components" from
Bookmarks in the CAD Manual PDF".
Benefits
Agreement among CAD users on universal standards for CAD data is only
possible when the CAD program is configured and used in the same manner.
S-MAN Advance Systems make that possible and yet still allow user's
ingenuity to add value. In partnership with others working in your industry,
S-MAN Advance is building consensus where CAD users have been unable to
solve the interoperability problem alone.
The free distribution of open source and wide open architecture in S-MAN
Advance also allows a company to integrate the best of their existing
standards and tools under the S-MAN umbrella. Defining alternate definition
files in S-MAN Advance enables you to conform seamlessly to localized
standards and specialized requirements. And by keeping in step with the
experience of using new technology, you will be able to get universal
agreement on standardization that does not lag too far behind technology.
About the AuthorBarrie Mathews is president of Softco
Engineering Systems Inc., developers of the S-MAN AutoCAD standards
development systems and may be contacted by email at barrie.mathews@softcosys.com. More CAD Management Select Articles |
