Measuring Productivity

[Anonymous]

It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
one track such a thing?

All that I've come up with is:
Watch the average editing time of drawings.
Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.

Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I have seen doing a record of several projects before defining a good guess
of time productivity frame, have not seeing the real one yet.
I have even wrote a tracking program using reactors, and many others
possibilities none will give you a real one.
I even wrote an application to straight forward the productivity.

It will depend on how you measure, it could be still things doing it easier
the old fashion way than the very powerful set of tools.

Being in the architectural business for 30 years have not seen such... get a
good team and make them happy to be working with you, that would work better
and remember to provide the right tools.

Luis e.

btw: the average editing time can be easily fake by the draftperson's

"Dick" wrote in message
news:CE3F36F7FCC39FEBCC7CE8BFAC088F80@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
> one track such a thing?
>
> All that I've come up with is:
> Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
>
> Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
>

[Anonymous]

Productivity can only be measured when the variables involved in making the drawing can be accurately measured.
These variables can be subdivided into 2 major groupings: software related and user related. Based on this, it can be easily seen that productivity can be improved by just reducing the user related time (thru customizations, parametric programming, etc.). ......Leo

[Anonymous]

I would have to think that some short term tests to see how much faster the
specific piece of software can perform the job would be one way you can do
it. Productivity is a hard thing to measure and to track over time because
ones job function is constantly changing. When I was working as a
mechanical engineer I couldn't believe how many more details we had to
create on the drawings. With all of the automation that the shop had
implemented a job probably required 1.5 times the number of drawings than
the same job had required 20 years earlier.

The editing time is also hard to track because now users can have multiple
drawings open and as a users get more advanced hardware they will likely
open even more drawings for reference. Plus it appears that even the CAD
technicians are being called upon to do more tasks then just drafting.

And I wouldn't even think about trying it based on costs or percent of
costs. I listened to 1 manager who told us that the new CAD system was more
productive because with the same number of engineering hours we had pushed
10% more product through the door. Not taking into account that steel had
doubled in cost and stainless had tripled. And with a small unit have 5,000
lbs of steel and some units have 80,000 lbs or more you can't tell me that
the sales guys didn't raise prices during the year.

As a developer I wish there was a way to say that my product would save you
X hours per user per year. But the reality is that every case is special
and all I can do is price my products so that you can easily justify them.

--
Rodney McManamy
President
*************************************************************************
CADzation
529 West Liberty Street #302
Wauconda, IL 60084
www.cadzation.com
sales@cadzation.com - Sales and General Information
support@cadzation.com - Technical Support Help

Award Winning AutoCAD to PDF Conversion Software

AcroPlot is a trademarks of CADzation.
*************************************************************************

"Dick" wrote in message
news:CE3F36F7FCC39FEBCC7CE8BFAC088F80@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
> one track such a thing?
>
> All that I've come up with is:
> Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
>
> Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
>

[Anonymous]

I can't tell you how to "measure productivity" per se. I my opinion there
are a few things that can be done to help productivity.
Don't assume everyone knows how to use the tools they are given. Train your
people! A keyboard (typing) course would be a good place to start. Develop
and use standards and work methods. There are many wasted hours trying to
figure out what the last guy did. Be sure the new hires learn "the craft"
as well as the CAD software. Keep a team togeather if at all possible,
usually by the third job they are really taking off.
Just a few thoughts.

Pete

[Anonymous]

Hi Rodney,

Why did you remove all the others applications from your web site, it is
better to dedicate just to one vertical?

Best regards,
Luis Esquivel

"Rodney McManamy - CADzation" wrote in message
news:860119E8E00E8E0DB8BBD8F8F5EFDAE5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I would have to think that some short term tests to see how much faster
the
> specific piece of software can perform the job would be one way you can do
> it. Productivity is a hard thing to measure and to track over time
because
> ones job function is constantly changing. When I was working as a
> mechanical engineer I couldn't believe how many more details we had to
> create on the drawings. With all of the automation that the shop had
> implemented a job probably required 1.5 times the number of drawings than
> the same job had required 20 years earlier.
>
> The editing time is also hard to track because now users can have multiple
> drawings open and as a users get more advanced hardware they will likely
> open even more drawings for reference. Plus it appears that even the CAD
> technicians are being called upon to do more tasks then just drafting.
>
> And I wouldn't even think about trying it based on costs or percent of
> costs. I listened to 1 manager who told us that the new CAD system was
more
> productive because with the same number of engineering hours we had pushed
> 10% more product through the door. Not taking into account that steel had
> doubled in cost and stainless had tripled. And with a small unit have
5,000
> lbs of steel and some units have 80,000 lbs or more you can't tell me that
> the sales guys didn't raise prices during the year.
>
> As a developer I wish there was a way to say that my product would save
you
> X hours per user per year. But the reality is that every case is special
> and all I can do is price my products so that you can easily justify them.
>
> --
> Rodney McManamy
> President
> *************************************************************************
> CADzation
> 529 West Liberty Street #302
> Wauconda, IL 60084
> www.cadzation.com
> sales@cadzation.com - Sales and General Information
> support@cadzation.com - Technical Support Help
>
> Award Winning AutoCAD to PDF Conversion Software
>
> AcroPlot is a trademarks of CADzation.
> *************************************************************************
>
> "Dick" wrote in message
> news:CE3F36F7FCC39FEBCC7CE8BFAC088F80@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> > boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> > It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
> > one track such a thing?
> >
> > All that I've come up with is:
> > Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> > Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
> >
> > Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
> >
>
>

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, I was really hoping for a "just do this..."!:)
The original question could have been a little more clear, my goal is to
measure the overall productivity of our CAD users over a long period of
time so that changes in productivity could be linked with changes in
tools and techniques. I could care less how individuals are doing and I
don't think that kind of resolution would even be reasonable. I think
productivity could be tracked to the individual project level but much
further would be pretty tough.

Increasing productivity is of course a stated goal of most CAD Managers
but it would be so nice to go to the higher ups and say "See, doing X
increased our productivity by Y" rather than say "hey, we are more
productive". It would make it much easier to justify Z.

After considering the problem more I have come up with a few more pieces
of the equation, all this would be used to calculate the productivity to
the project level. I think that productivity can be roughly defined as
time spent per plotted sheet. Of course this could be quite a different
story elsewhere but in our office we do MEP work in 2D, basically using
CAD as electronic paper.

The most important number in my calculations would be the number of
plotted sheets in the final set. Then take the total number of dwgs in
the project, the total editing time of those files, the total % of time
billed to CAD work on the project and any other factor that can help
narrow down the time-spent-per-sheet; mix them all up in a database and
I believe that something valuable could be derived from the results.




Dick wrote:
> It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would one
> track such a thing?
>
> All that I've come up with is:
> Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
>
> Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
>

[Anonymous]

Dick wrote:

Of course this could be quite a different

story elsewhere but in our office we do MEP work in 2D, basically using

CAD as electronic paper.

Hi Richard,

I would like to capitalize
on that very phrase of yours I have quoted above. IMHO, when using CAD
as a glorified drafting board, one can only ask/search for a marginal increase
of productivity. The major contributor to a time loss is a Human Error
factor. To minimize that factor one should use the technology available
in the most efficient way. To use 3D capability of Acad is the first thing
to consider. And rest assured that no amount of customization will ever
substituted creating of the model in 3D and then utilizing this model for
production of working drawings.

Regards,

Igor.

 

--

Please remove @NS in the E-mail address to reply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anonymous]

Productivity is based on profit. Whoever is making the most profit is the
most productive.
"Dick" wrote in message
news:CE3F36F7FCC39FEBCC7CE8BFAC088F80@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
> one track such a thing?
>
> All that I've come up with is:
> Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
>
> Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
>

[Anonymous]

And how is this achieved?
Through education.
Education in how to use AutoCAD and most especially education in how to
provide a product that satisfies the customers requirements with the most
efficient use of your time.

- Jim

"Bill" wrote in message
news:93DE0BA8BBF14B7ED5C1C7B29732DB3A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Productivity is based on profit. Whoever is making the most profit is the
> most productive.
> "Dick" wrote in message
> news:CE3F36F7FCC39FEBCC7CE8BFAC088F80@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > It seems that every piece of software (especially in the CAD arena)
> > boasts a boost in productivity but I want to know how that is measured.
> > It would be a really nice metric to watch over time but how would
> > one track such a thing?
> >
> > All that I've come up with is:
> > Watch the average editing time of drawings.
> > Grab the % of CAD time billed to projects.
> >
> > Any other ideas or links to info would be greatly appreciated.
> >
>
>

[Anonymous]

I have a simple lisp routine counter that I put on many of my working lisp
files. It runs silent and only counts each routines use for me to monitor
(I can print it out if needed). All the main routines with are accessible
for each user via pulldowns menu options or key board entry and are all
listed in our standards manual for each user to find (or ask me for a routine
to do something). I have have figured that over a months time of use these
have saved the office at least an hour per day over straight autocad. This
only documents one part of the office process, others include shortcut
keys, menu setups etc, and how projects are setup and run (some with good
management, some not, probably the biggest factor here in our company efficiency).

Ron Meicho

[Anonymous]

I whole heartedly disagree. 3D doesn't fit into all applications. For
starters there aren't many good programs for doing MEP work in 3d. The
tools that are powerful enough are either too costly or need very strong
users to be properly utilized. The only real advantage for drawing in
3D for us would be coordination and marketing. What is more valuable to
our design staff is getting their work onto paper quickly and accurately.

Secondly we gain huge efficiencies through customization, so much so
that our users have a hard time even using stock AutoCAD, it is just too
cumbersome for them.

Of course the whole point of this thread is to find out just what
"efficient" or "productive" means but it seems that there isn't a very
clear answer to that and even less clear is a way of measuring it.

Igor Mironenko wrote:
> IMHO, when using CAD as a glorified drafting board, one can only
> ask/search for a marginal increase of productivity. The major
> contributor to a time loss is a Human Error factor. To minimize that
> factor one should use the technology available in the most efficient
> way. To use 3D capability of Acad is the first thing to consider. And
> rest assured that no amount of customization will ever substituted
> creating of the model in 3D and then utilizing this model for production
> of working drawings.

[Anonymous]

Well, I would like to get
a sample of the work you do and see for myself, if I can do it faster in
2D or 3D. What do you think of this idea?

Regards,

Igor.

--

Please remove @NS in the E-mail address to reply.

 

 

Dick wrote:

I whole heartedly disagree.  3D doesn't fit
into all applications.  For

starters there aren't many good programs for doing MEP work in 3d. 
The

tools that are powerful enough are either too costly or need very strong

users to be properly utilized.  The only real advantage for drawing
in

3D for us would be coordination and marketing.  What is more valuable
to

our design staff is getting their work onto paper quickly and accurately.

Secondly we gain huge efficiencies through customization, so much so

that our users have a hard time even using stock AutoCAD, it is just
too

cumbersome for them.

Of course the whole point of this thread is to find out just what

"efficient" or "productive" means but it seems that there isn't a very

clear answer to that and even less clear is a way of measuring it.

Igor Mironenko wrote:

> IMHO, when using CAD as a glorified drafting board, one can only

> ask/search for a marginal increase of productivity. The major

> contributor to a time loss is a Human Error factor. To minimize that

> factor one should use the technology available in the most efficient

> way. To use 3D capability of Acad is the first thing to consider.
And

> rest assured that no amount of customization will ever substituted

> creating of the model in 3D and then utilizing this model for production

> of working drawings.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, a challenge eh! The real trick would be getting the 80+ CAD
operators and designers here to do it efficiently in 3d. Most users are
not power users.


Igor Mironenko wrote:
> Well, I would like to get a sample of the work you do and see for
> myself, if I can do it faster in 2D or 3D. What do you think of this idea?
>
> Regards,
>
> Igor.
>
> --
> Please remove @NS in the E-mail address to reply.
>
>
>
> Dick wrote:
>
>> I whole heartedly disagree. 3D doesn't fit into all applications. For
>> starters there aren't many good programs for doing MEP work in 3d. The
>> tools that are powerful enough are either too costly or need very strong
>> users to be properly utilized. The only real advantage for drawing in
>> 3D for us would be coordination and marketing. What is more valuable to
>> our design staff is getting their work onto paper quickly and accurately.
>>
>> Secondly we gain huge efficiencies through customization, so much so
>> that our users have a hard time even using stock AutoCAD, it is just too
>> cumbersome for them.
>>
>> Of course the whole point of this thread is to find out just what
>> "efficient" or "productive" means but it seems that there isn't a very
>> clear answer to that and even less clear is a way of measuring it.
>>
>> Igor Mironenko wrote:
>> > IMHO, when using CAD as a glorified drafting board, one can only
>> > ask/search for a marginal increase of productivity. The major
>> > contributor to a time loss is a Human Error factor. To minimize that
>> > factor one should use the technology available in the most efficient
>> > way. To use 3D capability of Acad is the first thing to consider. And
>> > rest assured that no amount of customization will ever substituted
>> > creating of the model in 3D and then utilizing this model for
>> production
>> > of working drawings.
>>
>
>

[Anonymous]

There are you go! All productivity
issue eventually gets back to training. But how to conduct the training?
That's a topic for a whole new discussion. Shall we start it?<G>

Igor.

--

Please remove @NS in the E-mail address to reply.

 

 

Dick wrote:

Oh, a challenge eh!  The real trick would be
getting the 80+ CAD

operators and designers here to do it efficiently in 3d.  Most
users are

not power users.

Igor Mironenko wrote:

> Well, I would like to get a sample of the work you do and see for

> myself, if I can do it faster in 2D or 3D. What do you think of this
idea?

>

> Regards,

>

> Igor.

> Dick wrote:

>

>> I whole heartedly disagree.  3D doesn't fit into all applications. 
For

>> starters there aren't many good programs for doing MEP work in 3d. 
The

>> tools that are powerful enough are either too costly or need very
strong

>> users to be properly utilized.  The only real advantage for
drawing in

>> 3D for us would be coordination and marketing.  What is more
valuable to

>> our design staff is getting their work onto paper quickly and accurately.

 

 

[Anonymous]

We are begining to track ECO time and acurracy, and track in Excel. This may not apply to the Architectual community (as most here seem to be). If you track drawing time, then you must have procedures and configuratios well documented so if you make changes, you can see results in the time tracking.