Letter from the President - February 2023
Hello to all the AUGIWORLD readers!
I’ve been contemplating our topic of “Standards”. I’m currently recovering from a rotator cuff shoulder surgery and was thinking about how the use of my right arm (I’m right-handed) is my “standard”. It’s been a real struggle to have limited use of it and I’m sure many of you can relate.
Imagine if you have no standard for your work? Some of you might not have to stretch much to imagine that and others would wonder how you would get anything done without a standard. Imagine again that you are a new employee, and it is your first day at an organization. You are given a task to create a CAD drawing but aren’t given direction on a template file to use, where the organizational files are stored, or an organizational CAD standard. If I encountered this situation, it would take much longer to create what is requested. I would have to ask a lot of questions, interrupting others in their work and slowing down myself and everyone who I worked with.
CAD and BIM work needs to be created with standards. Not having those standards is like functioning without a limb that you have come to rely on. A good standard creates a strong foundation for quality documentation that can be created by anyone with access to the standard and good working knowledge of the software. A good standard, that is properly implemented, enables work to be done efficiently and accurately.
Every type of documentation, whether you have a digital or printed deliverable, needs a standard. Even creating something as simple as a Word document has simple standards (font, font size, logos, etc.). Standards promote safety, reliability, productivity, and efficiency in almost every industry.
Taking the time to evaluate, create, and modify standards is critical within the CAD and BIM world. Time should be budgeted annually to manage standards. Whether that is done by group decision or by a CAD/BIM manager will differ between organizations.
By now you all know that I love quotes. They help me to realize that other people have encountered similar situations to my own and they give me hope that I can continue and do better. So in my tradition I provide this quote that I absolutely love from Henry Ford. “If you think of standardization as the best that you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrow; you get somewhere.”
Sincerely,
KaDe
