CAD Outsourcing Companies differ in several aspects, so depending on your firms particular needs, you’d want to rank key attributes accordingly. As a former sourcing professional, the methodology common throughout industry is to tank service providers based on the following criteria (AQSCI):
A -Assurance of Supply – This is usually a top criteria since your project needs and deliverables are key above all other attributes. If your Autocad provider doesn’t have the capacity or expertise to meet your project needs, none of the other criteria below even matter. Time and time again, we hear about US corporations trying out a low cost CAD solution only to find that the company oversold their services and expertise. The inability to deliver on promises and meet timelines can have significant consequences for your broader business success, rendering the planned savings on CAD outsourcing as moot.
Q -Quality – There are significant divergences in quality across CAD Services firms. Before we launched our firm, we engaged a few different CAD Outsourcing companies in India, the Philippines and elsewhere. What we found was that some firms were completely ill-equipped to handle even moderate complexity work, omitting key attributes and often missing agreed timelines. Others were able to meet basic business requirements. There are some pretty wide differences across firms out there, so honing in on price is probably not the most prudent approach. Your selection should be based on the right mix of key criteria for your firm.
S -Service – Service is an oft-overlooked criteria in selecting outsourcing partners. Do you want to be doing 9PM conference calls with someone on a cell phone who you have difficulty conversing with? A key differentiating criteria offered by CAD-Sourcing, LLC is the ability to work with a dedicated US-based account manager on a schedule that works for you. Once an ongoing relationship or large project is underway, live calls aren’t as frequent, but setting up the project or relationship properly early on is key. We have several very satisfied clients that enjoyed live Skype calls and telecons in real-time to ensure everyone’s on the same page, we understood the business requirements properly and provide the proper level of service, including up-front QC checks from a US based Professional Engineer, Project Management updates and tracking tools like BaseCamp, and convenient invoicing and billing options. Service is something we don’t feel other firms can compete with. Not only do we offer a full range of CAD Services, but the way we satisfy our customers is unparalleled in our industry.
C – Cost – Cost is obviously a strong driver to initiate CAD Outsourcing to begin with, but it shouldn’t be your sole consideration. We’re able to offer very competitive pricing at $15/hr, far surpassing any offerings you’ll find by hiring a trained CAD drafter in-house, but with enough margin to ensure we can provide the high level of service and trained personnel we feel is required for success. In some cases, you may see offerings for less, but we’re confident our service level and quality would far surpass any outsourcing firm, even those employing US-based drafters at $75/hr or more. At the end of the day, you may well pay more in correcting mistakes, paying for re-work, over-billing or having to find a new firm. If you’re not convinced, just ask us for a sample and we’ll prove it!
I -Innovation – Depending on the sourcing segment, innovation is sometimes a key attribute. We do have the ability to offer suggestions and new approaches to your workflow, your project and more. We’ve done dozens of large projects and have several large clients retained so our employees are well-versed in the needs of everything from large construction projects and building layouts to smaller jobs like jewelry CAD and individual product prototypes that require 3D CAD Printing.
We hope by sharing some selection criteria for you to consider, you can assess how to rank various CAD drafting companies based on the needs for your particular project.
