What's in a title?

[sam_m]

To start a Friday debate - can a Cad Manager also be a Cad Designer?  (and if so, is this common?)

Long story short, for whatever reason our design dept (not just mechanical/cad) is being reshuffled and we are all being assigned new titles.  As part of this I am mulling over whether we have a need for a Cad Manager position (and whether I can fit the bill).

Our drawing office consists of 5 Inventor users and we all do pretty much the same job.  I am the only one with an IT bent so over the last few years have almost become the Cad/IT liaison - working with IT over network setup/issues and advising our system/hardware requirements and purchases (even benchmarking a few options).  Because of this I naturally look after all our the systems regarding installation, setup and upkeep of our cad software.  I have also provided training in Inventor, Coreldraw and our operating procedures to the latest cad-recruit (plus CorelDraw training to employees outside our design dept).  I have also gone through and updated our drawing standards and try to keep them in line.  Due to all this I feel I'm heading down the route towards cad manager but, in all honesty, I wouldn't want to relinquish all of my design-work and certainly not a "paperwork only" position.

There is a lot of work that I can see being beneficial to the company (updating procedures/standards, creating quick-ref guides, etc) which isn't "billable time" to any single project so almost gets overlooked - but I'm thinking this could be started, say 1/2-1 day a week with the rest being my present design work.  Plus we keep considering the implementation of Vault, which I have already been called into meetings about.

We already have a drawing-office manager (non cad user) who signs off our work and covers the man-management side of things - so can a cad manager exist below this position, still using cad, without the man-management responsibilities?

I had an quick chat the other day to assess whether they had considered such a position and was told that we aren't large enough to justify a full-time cad manager and they couldn't afford to lose 1 of the 5 cad designers (so I have to question whether their and my vision of a cad manager differ).  This is why I thought I'd get opinions from those here - in your eyes am I demonstrating skills/services associated with a cad manager or am I more "design engineer with cad support?"  Am I wrong in thinking that a cad manager is also a hands-on-cad role - if only to keep up with the software to provide the latest training/support and maintain its ancillary files (templates, etc)?

In all honesty I can see a potential argument that I'm just title-chasing but kind of feel that if I'm practically doing the job then why not request the title (plus, from a selfish point of view, surely I should consider my CV and proof of progression within the company).

So, what are people's thoughts?

[japike]

Hi Sam,

I'm in exactly the same situation - designer and cad manager.  I like it that way.  First, I love designing, that's why I became a designer so I don't want to give that up and my boss understands and appreciates that.  But, I also enjoy working on computers and using the engineering software we have and I think there are very large benefits to having a designer managing the cad system.  I understand the ways other designers work and can set things up to help them be more efficient.  We don't use all of Inventors capabilities, so I test everything and do training based on what I feel is useful to OUR designers.  When something goes wrong, I hear about it and can respond very quickly.  When people need help they have someone sitting close by that can relate very well to what they are doing.  I think that only a person that is using the software and hardware everyday can understand and respond well in all of those circumstances.  Based on what i've seen in posts you've made on this site, I think you probably do the cad manager part of your job very well, I know you've helped me out several times.  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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"Our drawing office consists of 5 Inventor users and we all do pretty much the same job.  ...

There is a lot of work that I can see being beneficial to the company (updating procedures/standards, creating quick-ref guides, etc) which isn't "billable time" to any single project so almost gets overlooked - but I'm thinking this could be started, say 1/2-1 day a week with the rest being my present design work.  Plus we keep considering the implementation of Vault, which I have already been called into meetings about.

I had an quick chat the other day to assess whether they had considered such a position and was told that we aren't large enough to justify a full-time cad manager and they couldn't afford to lose 1 of the 5 cad designers (so I have to question whether their and my vision of a cad manager differ). "

I think you have your answer - management doesn't think it's cost effective to add another layer of full time management.  You might get the title, but you'll never get the authority you need as a manager to set & implement cad policies.  Cad managers are non-billable overhead.  At times that can be necessary, but most smaller firms can't afford it.

Cad manager can be a very frustrating position.  Your tasked from above to change the way people operate to improve effecencies, and that can lead to friction amongst coworkers.  Your usually not given enforcement powers and that can lead to abandonment of standards.

If you're cool with doing the "techie" stuff related to cad, that's cool, but until the principles of the company can appreciate what a cad manager can do, you won't get any tangible rewards for it.

Redi

[pendean]

In many offices, small up to almost medium size, the "cad manager" is also the "IT manager" as well as one of the full-time  AutoCAD users/designers on staff.

The challenge is to balance all your tasks whithout skipping a beat when it comes to billable project deadlines.

Job Titles imply a pay grade standard plus authority at most firms, large, medium or small: the hesitation at assigning a title to someone has a lot more to do with pay more than anything else I suspect. Especially a title that has no direct revenue stream.