Is Outsourcing CAD Services a Better Way?

The Pros

The business model of outsourcing has created highly effective and profitable opportunities for businesses to effectively lower overhead while expanding services and productivity. This model makes sense for many businesses, especially those who utilize CAD technology. CAD is a specialized genre of expensive advanced equipment and software. CAD technicians are specialized workers, requiring higher compensation with more advanced skills and accreditations.  Outsourcing CAD makes sense for the CAD supplier in terms of optimal use of space and equipment for use on many jobs versus a handful of similar projects including those requiring more advanced techniques.

From a technological perspective, housing equipment, software, and technicians in a single company allow for a broad range of expertise that may not be achieved by the needs of one industry.  Outsourcing allows for a wider basis of knowledge to be accessed by a company who contracts with outsourced CAD.  The technology used for one industry may be easily applied to another industry creating more accurate representations.  Technicians who are actively engaged in many applications are able to present the possibility of better uses of technology to client companies thereby increasing their value to the client.

Individuals with CAD expertise may find an opportunity to further specialize their skill sets by way of outsourced CAD due to the variety of work available to a specialized shop. For client companies, this scenario creates access to a deeper pool of knowledge than what may be offered by a single employee or two employed in-house. Incentives to work for a company who provides outsourced CAD are attractive simply for the experience and contacts an employee potentially has access to as the outsourcing agent. Job creation is another important aspect of the outsourcing model. Employees with limited experience may also find an avenue of education to pursue that was not obvious before the outsourced CAD became relevant to them.

The Cons

The question of efficiency and cost-effectiveness becomes more relevant as a company’s needs grow. The advantages and costs reach their most beneficial level at some optimal median level which should be determined by an individual client company. Low to moderate levels of work may find that the value of outsourcing is easily quantified. However, if a company is able to increase profit margins by managing CAD conversions in-house because of the sheer volume of work, outsourcing no longer makes sense if the CAD outsourcing agent is not able to meet or beat in-house production costs.

With any company specializing in outsourced content, ethics play a major role, presenting a potential risk to a company who uses the services of an outsourced CAD. The security a client company uses within their operation should be comparable to or exceed security measures taken to ensure privacy and protection of trade secrets. The quality of a company may potentially be measured in terms of their reliability and proven track record.  This proven method takes time to accomplish for any company. Possible ways around this may be through individuals with proven ethics standards, such as former government employees or individuals with specialized clearances. Nonetheless, there is the potential risk, however slight.

The time it takes to deliver a product to a client may present obstacles to a client company. Clear guidelines and communication are essential for any outsourcing transaction to run smoothly. Sudden changes in information or needs within a client company may present challenges for the outsourcing agent who then has to effectively communicate those changes to operating staff. Error checking and strict communication policies may be areas a client company should carefully review when choosing a company to outsource CAD too.