CAD Forum

HerrTick wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 2:19 pm I the past (and, almost certainly, the future), I spoke derisively about users who try way too hard to minimize mouse-clicks and feature count. While these things measure CAD gamesmanship, these things are never what accelerates a project.

CAD acumen is not tested by what you can make, but what you can change. Can your CAD models stand up to the twists and turns of unforeseen changes that inevitably crop up on the path from drunken marketing feverdream to final delivery?

1. Setting unrealistic deadlines without input from those doing the work.
2. Ignoring those users when they do ask.
3. Undoing those decisions once they realize it isn't going to work.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 3:24 pm In my experience:

1. Setting unrealistic deadlines without input from those doing the work.
2. Ignoring those users when they do ask.
3. Undoing those decision once they realize it isn't going to work.

......now back to year 5 of trying to get this global PLM system implemented.

HerrTick wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 2:19 pm I the past (and, almost certainly, the future), I spoke derisively about users who try way too hard to minimize mouse-clicks and feature count. While these things measure CAD gamesmanship, these things are never what accelerates a project.

CAD acumen is not tested by what you can make, but what you can change. Can your CAD models stand up to the twists and turns of unforeseen changes that inevitably crop up on the path from drunken marketing feverdream to final delivery?

Frank_Oostendorp wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 6:45 am Superfast SolidWorks operators, creating SolidWorks files in huge numbers in less time. After that, small errors are included in the files, there is no way to change/reuse these files, all parts are made with surfaces, way to complex features and over weighted. And all these files have to be re-created.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:35 am Meetings to prepared for the Meeting.

• One person carrying the responsibility of 3 full time roles: design engineer, PDM/CAD admin, and 3D printing lead (I'm the only engineer)
• Information bottle necks (or just no information)
• Priorities shifting faster than the wind changes directions
• Chasing shiny ideas for development projects
  
  
• A broken PDM library (tons of out-of-context/broken references, out-of-band changes, assemblies released with unreleased parts, terrible check-in practices, little to no notes, etc.)
  - this all was done before I arrived at my current organization, and now I've inherited the mess, and no one wants to commit to the time needed to fix this, because Sales can't stop selling

• Too many projects (what's normal here, is 5-6 projects for a single, early career engineer normal?)
• "I need you to update this drawing/design quick, should only take 20 minutes right?"
• Designs without constraints or dimensions and no information (if it exists, no clue where it is) documenting the design

HerrTick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:52 pm Another project timeline killer--adding or losing people.

Adding people can be worse than losing people.

Manager: "How far behind are we?"
Engineer: "Six weeks."
Manager: "What if we add two more people to the team?"
Engineer: "Sixteen weeks!"

HerrTick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:52 pm Another project timeline killer--adding or losing people.

Adding people can be worse than losing people.

Manager: "How far behind are we?"
Engineer: "Six weeks."
Manager: "What if we add two more people to the team?"
Engineer: "Sixteen weeks!"