CAD Administrator To Do List

I worked for a while as a CAD Administrator, and it was one of the most rewarding jobs I ever had. I really enjoyed working with people and the software, and making sure everyone had what they needed to get the job done. I did training and tech support as well as answering “how to” questions. I also got to set up a new PDM system. It was probably the perfect job for me.

Many companies don’t have a formal position or title for people acting as CAD Admins, and these people are often on their own for figuring out what the job is and what its range of responsibilities is.

I think it might be of value for some people to list some of what I think are the most important tasks that a CAD Admin has to get done. The things that your company needs you to do, and the things that your users need you to do. When everybody else is successful, the CAD Admin is successful. It’s your job to set them up for success, and make sure they have the hard and soft tools to git ‘er done.

Here are the things I would strive to supply as a CAD Administrator:

• Software is really your primary focus. It’s like a shop manager making sure he has tools on the bench. You have to make sure you have the best software, and that your ownership and maintenance issues are squared away. This means you have a list of serial numbers, and what levels or add-ons you own, and that the right software is allocated to people who can make best use of it. The software also has to be installed on proper hardware, and fully functional. Because you’re involved with the CAD software, you may be forced into dealing with other related software including FEA, PDM, CAM, and various other add-ons, possibly reaching as far as ERP, purchasing, inventory, repair, service, CRM, and my favorite, ETC. Congratulations, you’ve just been promoted to PLM Administrator.
• Reseller relationship is the next thing. You have to know where the software came from, how you can get support when you’re over your head, and where to get more when you need it. It’s best to have a good relationship with these people so they invite you to all the right events, and they might even stop by to make sure things are ok.
• Hardware is definitely something you can’t forget about. In a lot of places the hardware is the domain of the IT department, but the CAD Admin has to be involved in the selection, purchase, upgrade, maintenance and replacement decisions when it comes to something as specialized as 3D CAD.
• Standards of course you have to have standards. Standards for 2D CAD were ubiquitous, and those should move forward with some modernization. Standards for 3D CAD are tougher to set up, and more questionable if enforcing them really buys you much. Maybe 3D CAD standards are replaced by Best Practice suggestions. Of course all of this varies. Are you making sheets of plywood or F-35s? The really difficult things here are the file naming, revisioning, and what to do with files that aren’t manufacturing drawings or models, but are necessary for the documentation.
• Libraries are essential to the task of a CAD Admin. This is one of the easiest things you can do to boost productivity quickly. Not that creating libraries is easy, its definitely a lot of work between researching what you need, getting the part numbering right, and making it all accessible. To use configurations or separate parts? What custom properties do you need in each part? How much detail to add to hardware like screws? Do you use Toolbox the way it was intended, roll your own, or use Toolbox to make static parts? Lots of questions.
• IT relationship Your relationship with the IT department has to be top notch. There has to be mutual trust. You have to be an honorary member of the department. You will have to work very closely with these people. In a lot of ways you have to be a somewhat specialized IT person who can also do all of the other network and desktop support functions.
• Training is something you may have to work out with your reseller. If you are lucky and good, you can do the training yourself, or you have a minion who can help you with it. This can be expensive in both actual cost (for reseller training) and certainly in time for the users who should be designing stuff. You might consider monthly user group meetings at lunch time where your company supplies Jimmy Johns or something. Training for specialty software like FEA or kinematics is also important. Training on Standards is important.
• Support will at times come to the top of your list as the most important single item. If users are stuck, they are not producing. Its your job as CAD Admin to make sure they don’t get stuck. As a sub-category here, I would include mentoring. You need to be bringing up additional experts (to replace you when you get promoted, of course). It’s easy to spot the most promising candidates for this sort of thing.
• Budgeting is sometimes in the job description. You have to decide where to spend the money between maintenance, new software, hardware, special projects, training, and whatever else comes your way. Sometimes you get your own budget, sometimes it’s part of the IT department, or sometimes just overall company operations. You will have to participate in budgeting and budgeting decisions, though, no matter what.
• Evaluations are also a part of this job. In some cases you’ll have people who report to you directly, and in some cases, you’ll just be another user with extra responsibilities. In most cases you’ll be asked to contribute to the evaluations of people who are in some cases your peers and maybe even your seniors. Sometimes analytics comes into play where you have to collect, produce, and analyze data concerning through-put, down time, variations, mistakes, and so on. Numbers make evaluations much easier, although as soon as you start using numbers to make decisions, you’ll realize that an employees value to the department can’t always be captured on a graph. Be careful here, be human.
• Product planning as CAD Admin, you may also be tasked with overseeing the product development process. In my case, I worked with upper management to help develop, document, implement and oversee the process. I didn’t have a deep understanding of the photonics products we developed, we had specialized PhDs for that, but I did understand the component parts of the technology, what it took to develop an integrated product, and the rest of the process through the company through to sales, support, and repair. This was a very rewarding part of the job, and an area that lead to more leadership roles for me.

To some extent, where you take the job of CAD Administrator will be up to you. You have a special combination of skills, and your company has a special combination of requirements that will send your career in a unique direction. CAD Admin is the one path up for CAD users, designers and in some cases engineers to bigger and better things within a company. It’s a tough job that means you work by yourself and come up with your own solutions a lot of the time, but it can be very rewarding for people who value their independence.