Analyzing CAD Spending Trevor Scullion & Dan Gerlach Partners: AutomationForce Inc.

Class Summary Assessing your current CAD investments and deciding on where to focus future efforts is becoming increasingly complex. This class will show you how to: Identify data collection targets Extract meaning from the captured data Generate reports Gauge effectiveness of training, hardware, standardization and automation. With better data, you can make better decisions!

Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to: Analyze your CAD hardware use Analyze your CAD software usage Analyze your CAD users efficiency Create a Payback period and an ROI for funding

Time IS money Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose.      - Thomas Edison We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.      - John F. Kennedy “Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose”.      - Thomas Edison ”We must use time as a tool, not as a couch”.      - John F. Kennedy

But where does it all go? License under-utilization The average company only utilises roughly 80-90% of its licenses on a daily basis Inefficient Training Today, only 4 out of 10 companies set aside money for training their employees, compared to 8 out of 10 in 2007 As a result, many CAD managers are spending unbudgeted time on support and training, on average 12 hours a week responding to "How do I do this...?" questions More software packages in use A typical company now uses 3.5 software packages to produce documentation Notes for above slide: 1- On average, a company only utilises around 80-90% of its licenses on a daily basis. 2 - Only 4 out of 10 companies, compared to 8 out of 10 in 2007, set aside money for training their employees 3 - A CAD Manager spends 12 hours (or one and a half days) every week responding to "How do I do this...?" questions                - The majority of training, 49.4%, is identified by the users themselves                - (79.7% of CAD Managers are the main source of training for staff               4 – Technology use continues to accelerate - a typical company now uses 3.5 software packages to produce its documentation

But where does it all go?, continued More complex software packages 3D systems are becoming more complex leading to a wider "Technology Gap” Tough to get good outside support help 9 out of 10 companies now pay for support subscriptions every year, yet the average CAD Manager will use this subscription as a first step less than 10% of the time. Mostly because the average time for satisfactorily closing a call stands at 39.3 hours or almost 5 working days. 5 - 3D systems are becoming more complex leading to a wider "Technology Gap". - This is an important measure of how far off away the users are from taking full advantage of the latest 3D software 6 - 9 out of 10 companies now pay for support subscriptions every year, yet the average CAD Manager will use                  this subscription as a first step less than 10% of the time mostly because the average time for satisfactorily closing a                  call stands at 39.3 hours or almost 5 working days. Bottom line: We need help assessing and addressing our CAD needs AND we pretty much need to do it ourselves. Bottom Line is: We must be able to assess and address our CAD needs ourselves.

What should we measure? So we know we need to improve things and win some of the coveted annual budget for our CAD group but, what should we be measuring and what types of tools are available to help? When we are talking about bandwidth in the context of this presentation today, we are talking in terms of business jargon, where it commonly means: the resources needed to complete a task or project The resources needed to complete a task or project related to CAD. Otherwise known in business jargon as “Bandwidth”

It’s ALWAYS a “Bandwidth” issue As a team, we’ve learned to measure the performance of CAD groups by these three distinct bandwidth channels: Hardware bandwidth Can the machines keep up with the software and user speed Software bandwidth Is the software setup to take advantage of hardware and user skills User bandwidth Are the users leveraging hardware and software to the maximum capacity To illustrate, let’s take the example of a mechanical engineer designing a new faucet using 3D CAD software such as Inventor. The computation bottleneck is the ability of the hardware to keep a 3D model up-to-date. As products become more complex, the computation requirements increase rapidly along with the hardware display bottleneck is the ability of the software/graphics card to render the 3D model accurately in “real time”. The user interface bottleneck is the ability of the user to directly move the object to the desired position and then issue various commands, with the least number of interruptions and context shifts, in the shortest amount of time. Finally, the user’s bandwidth if the amount of information that can be processed by the user in keeping up with all of the above technology including the aspects of the user’s job of designing or detailed drafting.

The ability of the computer to keep a 3D model up-to-date as we add complexity. Part features, unique assembly parts and drawing view details add to the effort placed on the hardware. Hardware Bandwidth The ability of the computer to keep a 3D model up-to-date as we add complexity. Part features, unique assembly parts and drawing view details add to the effort placed on the hardware.

Hardware Specs How to compare hardware What to measure Tools for the job When measuring the speed of computers and graphics cards, the process isn't quite as straightforward as measuring the speed of say, a motorcycle. First, you must determine what exactly you mean by "speed." Then you'll need some sort of script program to measure performance, given that it is almost impossible for a human to perform the task repeatedly with sufficient consistency to analyze 3D speed. Fortunately, the industry has addressed the challenges for us through an organization called Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC).

Characterizing Current Hardware Graphics Hardware Graphics Memory, Resolution, Refresh Rates, etc. System Hardware Processor Type, Cache, RAM, Disk info, Core(s), etc. Software Configuration OS, OpenGL info, Graphics Drivers, etc. Price, Availability, etc.

Comparing Hardware with SPEC* benchmarks SPEC Apps Benchmarks are published Non Profit Organization Memberships available Open Source *(SPEC) Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

Measuring Use SPEC Composite Values Use Workbook Tool Share The Workbook tool that we use (and that we will share with you), allows us to enter your existing hardware specs and assign some weighted values to them along with the new hardware you would like to get budget for. With tools like SPECviewperf 11 or Zoeked or other online tools, you can either download some benchmark values from their websites OR have someone you know with your future hardware do a quick run for you.

Measure Hardware….. - Rinse and Repeat With your hardware analysis in hand, you can begin to adjust settings and configurations. Then re-measure to ensure you’re making the best use of your hardware. Repeat as necessary. Optimum drivers and settings Optimum service packs and settings Overall CAD setup including Best use of Levels-of-Detail Constraint management Symbols for standard details

-The average person today (1999) receives more information on a daily basis, than the average person received in a lifetime in 1900. Software Bandwidth Measuring the level at which the software is taking advantage of the hardware and user skills

Comparing Software Comparing versions, sometimes new versions are better! Looking for CAD Apps Measuring true usage Tools for the job The goal in measuring your software environment vs your planned upgraded environment is to review the newer release and pick out a few key aspects that could make your group more productive. Later on, we will also asses your USERS group to analyze areas they USE TODAY. In the graphic above from Camashi Limited, is of a planned upgrade from AutoCAD 2007 to 2010 and they’ve determined that PDF markup and export as well as free form modeling and dynamic block tools in the new 2010 version will give them an advantage over the 2007 version.

Software - What to Measure Where time is spent Features in use Possible Add-ons Possible Automation You can run your own in-house benchmarks by choosing a design of your choice and running an evaluation copy of the newer software to create the design on both the new and old version. If the user is the same and the hardware hasn’t changed, it will give you a decent benchmark. (Click) Again, there are several good sources of benchmarks like this on the web. You only need a few percentage points of improvement to help build your budget case. (Click) In our Workbook, we will enter our findings and use it to extract how much time (in hours per week) that the user works in each area or function. This will give us a projected savings in hours per week.

Software – Tools Inventor API Enterprise tools Cloud-based solutions The Inventor API provides a mechanism to create a quick VB program that can track and log commands in use by your group of users. NEED SOME SAMPLES OF AN API SCREEN SHOT OR WHERE TO GET THE CODE> There are also several enterprise tools that can be purchased to track picks and clicks as well as files worked on. NEED SOME SCREEN SHOTS OF WEB SITES WE’VE SEEN. There are several new cloud based solutions that quietly work on the background like (Click) the Zoeked tool.

-The average person today (1999) receives more information on a daily basis, than the average person received in a lifetime in 1900. (This is the same note as on an earlier slide, don’t read it twice!) User Bandwidth

Evaluating Users Measure each member of your group Run assessments Run a Benchmark design Tools for Comparison

User Assessment Tools The Workbook Online Tools Online Tests Talk about AND run a video of some online assessment tools. The goal here is whether your running a workbook or online tool, you need to measure your existing CAD group and try and assign a value to each member of the group. For example: 5 = a Mentor and 1 = Needs Training. Breaking the rankings down further into 2D, 3D, CAD Tests and Benchmark scores will further help you build your Budget analysis later. There are several online tools that can help with the process.

Budgets – How to win Budgets -The average person today (1999) receives more information on a daily basis, than the average person received in a lifetime in 1900. Budgets – How to win Budgets

Budgets – Make it about business not IT Payback and ROI built on key performance indicators or KPI Using the Workbook Tools for the task

Budgets – Select your KPI* Improve design efficiency by X% Increase project throughput by X% Improve user productivity by X% Reduce field errors by X% Must be clearly measurable for folks outside CAD If a Key Performance Indicator is going to be of any value, there must be a way to accurately define and measure it. "Generate Project Quicker" is useless as a KPI without some way to distinguish between new and repeat projects. "Be The Most popular department" won't work as a KPI because there is no way to measure the department’s popularity or compare it to others. You also need to set targets for each Key Performance Indicator. A company goal to be the employer of choice might include a KPI of "Turnover Rate". After the Key Performance Indicator has been defined as "the number of voluntary resignations and terminations for performance, divided by the total number of employees at the beginning of the period" and a way to measure it has been set up by collecting the information in an HRIS, the target has to be established. "Reduce turnover by five percent per year" is a clear target that everyone will understand and be able to take specific action to accomplish. *Key Performance Indicator *Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Budgets – Return On Investment The ROI calculation measures the ongoing return on an investment — typically on an annualized basis. ROI % = (Return - Cost of investment) x 100                         Cost of investment The Variables involved in a traditional ROI calculation are pretty straight forward: Return On Investment justification usually follows the same formula: you assess how much time can be saved by the investment, multiply that by the number of users and compare that against the initial outlay. A CAD or IT type ROI Calculation needs to take into account the initial productivity loss on software upgrades or training as users get ramped up. (Click)

Budgets – CAD Return On Investment Our workbook calculations

Budgets - Payback Period The payback period determines how quickly the investment cost will be fully recovered. Payback Period = Cost of Project / Annual Cash Inflows Our CAD Calculation Payback Period in Years = Total CAD Spend / (Annual CAD Design Engineer Loaded Salary * Productivity Gain) Traditional Payback period is simply the Cost of the project / Annual Cash inflows (Click) Our calculation includes the productivity gained from the project as well.

Budgets – Make it about business, not technology Historically CAD budgets go to: Upkeep: Ongoing costs/ subscriptions Software Upgrades Additional Software Modules or add-ons Training Hardware But none of these talk about KPI’s, you need to use a methodology that will help you build a solid case that you can present to the business So...we still need all of these things..we just need to attach them to things that make sense to the business folks, so they can see some tangible benefit and can more easily justify the spending, in their own minds..but the spending is still going to the same buckets....

Demonstration of the Workbook This will be the live portion of our workbook demonstration. Demonstration of the Workbook

Summary Using the right analysis tools can make a CAD managers life easier Hardware analysis Use tools like SPEC or Zoeked Software analysis Use scripts or other tools to get a snapshot of your current software usage Run an internal benchmarks User analysis Benchmark, assess and/or test users Choose KPI’s Select Key Performance Indicators Allocate your CAD budget to maximize your ROI and Payback based on measurable KPI’s

Thank you Get the workbook: trevor.scullion@automationforce.com Dan.Gerlach@automationforce.com

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