CAD Managers

[#1]

We would like to hear if someone is using or know about projectmates from:
www.projectmates.com this is supposedly for online project management for
busy project managers.

Also how about AM Meridian or AM Workflow from cyco

We are in the process to buy something like this, in order to have control
with our projects and consultants.

Any thoughts or feedback is welcome

Luis Esquivel
M+C Architects, San Diego, CA

[#2]

Luis,

I used to Install, Customise and
Configure Document Management Systems, mainly:

AM Workflow

AM Meridian

Motiva Designgroup/eChange (went
bust)

Both AM Meridian and Workflow have
some limited Internet/Intranet facilities for data sharing, however, for full
use require a client to be installed on each machine.

Workflow is for Home to Small Office
users, and is highly configurable using either BaseLISP or VB (or both!) runs
using a flat DBIV dB, relatively cheap. Max amount of docs ~15,000

Meridian is for small to medium
sized firms can be used with it's own proprietry dB or hooked into a SQL 7
server. Customisation is utilised using VB/VC++ with either Server or Client
application 'hooks'. More expensive than Workflow!

Max. amount of docs ~60,000
(250,000+ with SQL).

Either products offer Project life
cycle management, ACAD block libraries, workflow, revision control, security,
and with Meridian your docs are stored in a 'secure' vault (utilised thru drive
mapping on the client PC's).

Neither product will fit
your needs 'out-of-the-box' and will need customisation in some form or another,
speaking from a customisation point of view I recommend you get a dealer to come
in and analyse your business processes and work out how many days' customisation
you will need for a fully fledged automated
system. A lot of customers I know that
have installed systems themselves usually
underspec the initial installations and have severe problems several months down
the line.

If you need any forther help or if
anyone has any questions I would be glad to offer assistance.

Chris Kyriacou

Technical Director

Avatar Consortium (UK)
Ltd.

href="mailto:Chrisk@blueyonder.co.uk">Chrisk@blueyonder.co.uk

"Luis Esquivel" <
href="mailto:Lesquivel@mc-architects.com">
size=2>Lesquivel@mc-architects.com
size=2>> wrote in message
href="news:01F8FBCB114218DF1794EEA66D28C417@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW">
face=Tahoma
size=2>news:01F8FBCB...
color=#0000ff face=Tahoma size=2>...

size=2>> We would like to hear if someone is using or know about projectmates
from:
>
size=2>www.projectmates.com
this is supposedly for online project management for
> busy project
managers.
>
> Also how about AM Meridian or AM Workflow from
cyco
>
> We are in the process to buy something like this, in order
to have control
> with our projects and consultants.
>
> Any
thoughts or feedback is welcome
>
> Luis Esquivel
> M+C
Architects, San Diego, CA
>

[#3]

Thank you Chris for your input, we will still try to look for more options
before we make a final decision, I'm glad that you enlighten us in the right
direction.

Happy holidays,
Luis Esquivel

[#4]

We use AM Workflow for 70,000+ drawings. With this large of a database it
often takes 2 hours to re-index and re-pack for maintenance during which
time all users must be off the system. We generally do this once a week in
the evening or on the weekend. The product is written specifically for
AutoCAD so it integrates very well (It will manage other CAD files as well).
I've found that I get more assistance from the Cyco messageboards than from
the dealer regarding customization. You should download and read the User
and Administrator training guides from their web site.
http://www.cyco.com/Homepage/Home.nsf/P30?OpenPage
Good luck,
Kevin

Luis Esquivel wrote in message
news:01F8FBCB114218DF1794EEA66D28C417@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> We would like to hear if someone is using or know about projectmates from:
> www.projectmates.com this is supposedly for online project management for
> busy project managers.
>
> Also how about AM Meridian or AM Workflow from cyco
>
> We are in the process to buy something like this, in order to have control
> with our projects and consultants.
>
> Any thoughts or feedback is welcome
>
> Luis Esquivel
> M+C Architects, San Diego, CA
>

[#5]

Kevin,
In your case it may be worth considering the upgrade to Meridian with a sql
server... They have a Workflow to Meridian upgrade tool available that may
help you transfer all docs etc. to the new system...

If you like, I could have a look into how thorough this utility is?

Regards,

Chris Kyriacou

"Kevin Ross" wrote in message
news:FCA2F89F3FC086410BBD975B32F5C6B4@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> We use AM Workflow for 70,000+ drawings. With this large of a database it
> often takes 2 hours to re-index and re-pack for maintenance during which
> time all users must be off the system. We generally do this once a week in
> the evening or on the weekend. The product is written specifically for
> AutoCAD so it integrates very well (It will manage other CAD files as
well).
> I've found that I get more assistance from the Cyco messageboards than
from
> the dealer regarding customization. You should download and read the User
> and Administrator training guides from their web site.
> http://www.cyco.com/Homepage/Home.nsf/P30?OpenPage
> Good luck,
> Kevin
>
> Luis Esquivel wrote in message
> news:01F8FBCB114218DF1794EEA66D28C417@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> > We would like to hear if someone is using or know about projectmates
from:
> > www.projectmates.com this is supposedly for online project management
for
> > busy project managers.
> >
> > Also how about AM Meridian or AM Workflow from cyco
> >
> > We are in the process to buy something like this, in order to have
control
> > with our projects and consultants.
> >
> > Any thoughts or feedback is welcome
> >
> > Luis Esquivel
> > M+C Architects, San Diego, CA
> >
>

[#6]

Chris,
Thanks for the offer. Please let me know what you find. We currently have 20
seats of Workflow. During the last year I was able to get our company to
spend a great deal of cash on system upgrades so they might not swallow a
new upgrade until 2002! Will the upgrade you refer to improve the time it
takes to search the database? Currently it takes 8-10 minutes to run a
search through 70k+ documents.
Regards,
Kevin

Chris Kyriacou wrote in message
news34C7F0EE130CA9F8FD8CD2AEB1CB147@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW...
> Kevin,
> In your case it may be worth considering the upgrade to Meridian with a
sql
> server... They have a Workflow to Meridian upgrade tool available that may
> help you transfer all docs etc. to the new system...
>
> If you like, I could have a look into how thorough this utility is?
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris Kyriacou

[#7]

Thank you Kevin

Luis

Kevin Ross wrote in message ...
>We use AM Workflow for 70,000+ drawings. With this large of a database it
>often takes 2 hours to re-index and re-pack for maintenance during which

[#8]

I've held back for nearly six months now, but today I'm taking the plunge.

If you want to do everything you ask and more, such as job costings,
timesheets etc. with a product that needs NO customisation, then could you
have a look at Office Manager

--
Stuart Nathan @
http://www.dwgoffice.com

[#9]

Thank you for your response,

Stuart, How about protection of our drawings, partial access from our
consultants, and is this software compatible with standards used here in
USA?

Regards,
Luis Esquivel

stuart nathan wrote in message
<847EBD08C5F56075B72CABA8E04E821C@in.WebX.SaUCah8kaAW>...
>I've held back for nearly six months now, but today I'm taking the plunge.
>
>If you want to do everything you ask and more, such as job costings,
>timesheets etc. with a product that needs NO customisation, then could you
>have a look at Office Manager
>
>--
>Stuart Nathan @
>http://www.dwgoffice.com
>