Engineering Systems and Process Review
What Is the Goal of an Engineering Systems and Process Review?
That’s simple: to bring Engineering and IT teams into alignment around all the details of their engineering systems and processes so there is a document that provides one source of truth for the company in managing CAD data, licenses, IT network infrastructure, process workflow, and revision management.
Five Biggest SOLIDWORKS Challenges
Converge believes that there are five key challenges that companies using SOLIDWORKS and CAD tend to face. We prioritize these challenges below:
- Companies lose engineering resources (time and money) to system administration.
- Not completely and properly utilizing existing SOLIDWORKS or CAD licensing.
- There is a need for alignment between the Engineering and IT departments and their resources.
- Incomplete process and system (SOLIDWORKS/CAD) documentation.
- Companies that need system and configuration consistency and standardization.
If you are a manufacturer or an engineering and design firm, chances are you face one or more of these challenges, and we understand your pain because our roots are in engineering services.
What Is an Engineering Systems and Process Review (ESPR)?
An ESPR is a collection of details that comprise the SOLIDWORKS CAD-related systems and processes essential for creating, managing, and distributing engineering data to internal and external stakeholders. Our ESPR includes the following:
- Detailed and illustrated Engineering and IT documentation
- SOLIDWORKS CAD Administration manual/handbook
- Valuable information that can be a resource for ongoing system support and process improvements
Our documentation typically has 5-6 sections of detail and comprehensive recommendations to remediate problems we uncover during the review.
What Does an ESPR Include?
A series of documents are included in a full comprehensive review, including the following:
- ESPR Manual
- IT & Infrastructure
- Data Governance
- Process, Workflow, & Revision Management
- Applications and Settings
- User Accounts and Licensing
- Findings and Recommendations
- CAD Administration Task List
Imagine having documentation at your fingertips that can provide the one source of truth for managing your SOLIDWORKS data.
What Are the Benefits of an ESPR?
Here are the top benefits of partnering with Converge to implement your Engineering Systems and Process Review:
- Get more from your existing investment through application and license usage optimization
- Reduce your IT dependency & burden via Engineering and IT resource alignment
- Improved process control and communication with fully documented systems, workflows, and processes
- Better performance and user experience leveraging improved systems configuration consistency
- Recover your lost engineering resources due to:
- Improved Environment Management
- Reduced Administration Burden
- Streamlined New User Onboarding
We believe that your ROI for implementing a review and following our recommendations will take you to new productivity levels.
| Median CAD Admin Burden Cost* | # of CAD Users | % of FTE Utilized Based on CAD Users | Admin Burden Cost to Business | ESPR Cost** | % of Burden Cost | Efficiency Gained @ 30% Reduction for Year 1 |
|
$96,160 |
Up to 5 |
10.00% |
$9,616 |
$3,000.00 |
31.20% |
$2,885 |
|
$96,160 |
5-10 |
15.00% |
$14,424 |
$4,000.00 |
27.73% |
$4,327 |
|
$96,160 |
10-15 |
20.00% |
$19,232 |
$5,000.00 |
$26.00% |
$5,770 |
|
$96,160 |
15-20 |
25.00% |
$24,040 |
$6,000 |
24.96% |
$7,212 |
* Median of salary.com data for eight different engineering titles
** ESPR scope/cost increase based on number of CAD users and environment complexity
What’s the ROI for an ESPR?
Here’s how to think about the return on investment:
- Salary: Based on a review of salary.com and eight different engineering titles, we determined that the median salary for someone performing SOLIDWORKS administration is $96,160.
- Burden: Converge believes the burden on the admin increases based on the number of SOLIDWORKS users.
- Documentation Cost: ESPR cost increases based on environment complexity and number of users.
- Impact: We aim to decrease your administrative burden in year one by 30%, but this will only grow in time.
Check out the graphic with our calculations and let us know if you agree with our math and the impacts on your organization.
What’s the Process To Get Started With a Review?
Here’s the process at a high level, not including the statement of work needed for Converge to begin the work:
- Discovery: Dig in and ask questions.
- Review: Analyze all of the relevant data.
- Documentation: Organize data into a cohesive document as one source of the truth.
- Recommendations: Present findings and recommendations for improvements.
- Remediation: Develop a task list to improve processes and systems.
Our review can bring alignment to your engineering and IT teams to drive system and process improvements to help you get the most out of your SOLIDWORKS investment.
