Offshoring drafting work - does your company do it?

[m_kingdon]

Hi, my career has mostly been drafting / modelling. I've express an interest in growing beyond this role but opportunities beyond drafting rarely come my way due to various reasons. 

I also believe that drafting work is increasingly outsourced to overseas workers who are substantially cheaper. Does your company do this? Have you noticed an uptick in outsourcing drafting work? 

[ianjchap]

Hi @m_kingdon,

I've had different experiences with offshore resourcing in different roles. The challenges are always around quality, communication and time zone differences. Depending on the work, it can be fairly successful and may change your role slightly to one that will manage and QA drawings and models. Civil design however is very much a collaborative workflow and relies on constant discussions and information exchange. Local language, terminology and working practices are something to consider and can be a sticking point early on. Things like RC Detailing work quite well that rely on set standards or markups. My experience of Civils projects were thinking well ahead, packaging up heavily detailed mark ups each day ready for the offshore resource staff to look at the next day when they came online.

I haven't noticed any significant increase in the number of projects being resourced abroad in recent years. It seems to be certain companies with specific projects, and mainly larger organisations that will allow this option to help them deal with the peaks and troughs more efficiently. 

My biggest takeaway from offshoring, is you dont get any 'outside the box' thinking. What you markup, is what you got, so that needs to be done really well.

[boliekcubarti2436]

I’ve seen outsourcing becoming more common in various industries, especially in areas like medical billing and insurance processing, where cost savings and efficiency are big factors. The biggest challenge is always communication and quality control, but if the workflow is structured properly, it can work well. In my experience, companies that specialize in outsourcing manage these issues better because they already have trained professionals who understand the specific needs of the industry.

For instance, a primary care billing company can handle everything from credentialing to revenue cycle management, ensuring accurate coding and timely payments. It’s a good way to lighten the workload while keeping things efficient.

[RobertEVs]

What happens when outsourced? Many years ago, Dell Computer decided to use outsourced tech support. I had the wonderful experience of needing support on a weekend and while on the phone I could hear the support tech flipping through some type of binder pages. After what seemed like an eternity, I could only ascertain that, she must have finally reached the last page that instructed her to....

 Take a deep breath and calmly state to the caller that they must "re-format the entire hard drive." 🙃