I have read this entry and found the advices provided in it sound and succinct – a good chance for me to ease into public blogging again.
Gary Lamit - a mechanical CAD consultant - helps companies migrate from 2D to 3D. Below is the most relevant part of what he had to say (emphasis added):
"I think the overall challenge for companies trying to adopt 3D is administrative," says Lamit. He says companies have to work with their employees to ensure they [are] going to able to work with whatever system the company chooses to employ. Lamit says the decision needs to made with input from the actual designers otherwise users can be mislead into purchasing systems that will not help them. He suggests creating an advisory board made up of both designers and executives to review the various options. "There have been many times I have seen a company choose one person to implement a system and they say 'I love [X],' except everyone in the company is already trained on [Y]. It has to be a group effort almost like a think tank."
Along with the challenges of implementing a system that is appropriate for one's organization is overcoming resistance from employees. "There is also the resistance you sometimes get from 'legacy workers.' Employees who don't want to learn a new package. There are people who still love 2D AutoCAD and if you look hard enough you can find people who love still love using the drafting board."
Lamit says the solution to dealing with these individual is to make sure they understand how the new system will benefit them and the company. "To be clear I don't mean bringing in a CAD representative who shows them a demo and claims the actual work of drafting doesn't have to be done anymore," says Lamit.
Another challenge Lamit sees is the need for training. He says a company cannot successfully integrate a 3D system without spending the time and money necessary to adequately train users on a new system. "I think there is a real need for training. Our feeling is that if companies aren't willing to put hundreds of hours of effort into training their employees there is no way to develop an effective staff." He goes on to say he feels software sellers often convince customers that their employees will only need a few hours of training on the new systems. Lamit says this is a sure prescription for failure. He adds employers should not only expect to invest time and money into educating employees but also they should expect employees to need to re-educate themselves regularly on the subject. "One thing that the administration has to understand is that continual education and support is the only thing that is going to make it work. I believe a work force that is trained and happy and using software that is more mainstream makes them a happier employee," he says.
Finally, Lamit points out there can be a challenge with hardware. He says most systems currently running 2D systems probably are not capable of running the more powerful 3D software out there. However, he says the cost should be weighed against the improvement in the reduction in production time. "I think the productivity increase is going to pay back the money spent on the upgrade."
The MCAD industry has been on object-oriented 3D for more than 15 years. The AEC industry can find a lot of guidance in what they have learned so far...In a nutshell, the above parallels - in more way than one - what individual AEC companies need to do in the next 2 years...Why two years? Well, that's another blog entry sometime soon.
Thank you John Myers (author of the original article – ConnectPress - Published 10/15/2007)
