Project management mess: how to get it right?

[Prorad]

Hi,

 

I am the tech consultant of a small interior design company. They asked me to sort out a difficult situation that i will explain shortly. Please note that i have little knowledge of autocad "ecosystem" and i am not into it as a user.

 

- The company has 2 locations (say office1 and office2), both with standard adsl connectivity (2M/512K and 20M/1M).

- Office1 contains 1 desktop, which is intended to be the main repository of all the project files.

- Office2 contains 5 desktop machines. One of them is intended to be the main repository for all the office2 files, the other four are for the employees.

- the company has two boss, each one with its own laptop.

 

I am quite sure you already know what's coming next:

 

- multiple projects going on concurrently

- files between office1, office2 and the laptops needs to be synchronized by hand.

- last version of each file is never in one freaking place, sometimes it's in office1, sometimes it's in office2, sometimes on the laptops

- furthermore, it can happen that there isn't a "last version" of a file as two different people modified it on two different machines.

- as a result, trying to set a backup is a nightmare

 

Other useful infos:

- autocad version are both 2008 and 2009

- no xref used, every project file is a standalone dwg

- windows xp on desktops and vista on laptops.

 

The desired result is to have all files synchronized across all the locations and the laptops, but i really don't know how to achieve it. What i am looking for is something similar to SVN for programming, but i am aware of the fact that this requires a radical change in people's mind about managing project files.

 

So i am here to ask you:

- is this only a management issue or there is some software that i could look at?

- some kind of guide, book, tutorial, pointer that teaches how to manage a project in autocad.

- anything else that you think could be useful

 

thanks in advance

[ReMark]

Sounds like there is no company-wide standardization. That's a management problem.

 

Perhaps you could look into using AutoDesk Vault to manage project files. It would give you tighter control.

[nukecad]

First step would be to set up a network with one machine (with a large capacity drive) as the file server and get everybody to save the project drawings to that machine instead of their own PC / laptop. These are then the 'official' latest versions, and anybody who changes anything and saves it to their own machine gets a reprimand for not working to the company system.

 

There are numerous Drawing Managment System programmes available in which users use a front end programme to book out drawings to change them and log them back in after the changes; but I find that if you use a central fileserver and users are aware of how they should be managing the files then very little goes wrong without having to use a DMS.

[Pablo Ferral]

Having your project files in one place would definately be a great boon. Computorized document control could be the answer, but don't forget about good old 'CAD Standards' and education.

 

BS ISO 1192 sets out how to use 'Work in progress' files for internal review which are only placed into the project once they are internaly reviewed and approved.

 

The CPIC site has some information on Office procedures:

http://www.cpic.org.uk/en/publications/production-information/office-organisation.cfm#424

 

AECuk has published some information on document nameing and folder structures:

http://aecuk.wordpress.com/

[Prorad]

Having your project files in one place would definately be a great boon. Computorized document control could be the answer, but don't forget about good old 'CAD Standards' and education.

BS ISO 1192 sets out how to use 'Work in progress' files for internal review which are only placed into the project once they are internaly reviewed and approved.

 

The CPIC site has some information on Office procedures:

 

 

AECuk has published some information on document nameing and folder structures:

 

yeah, the bold is exactly what i feel it's missing, essentialy because the office was, years ago, a one man band, drawing pencil-and-paper.

 

thx, if you have other suggestions (also, books) keep 'em coming.

[Seath]

First step would be to set up a network with one machine (with a large capacity drive) as the file server and get everybody to save the project drawings to that machine instead of their own PC / laptop. These are then the 'official' latest versions, and anybody who changes anything and saves it to their own machine gets a reprimand for not working to the company system.

 

There are numerous Drawing Managment System programmes available in which users use a front end programme to book out drawings to change them and log them back in after the changes; but I find that if you use a central fileserver and users are aware of how they should be managing the files then very little goes wrong without having to use a DMS.

 

I would agree. I worked for a company that had more than 15 offices nation wide that all needed access to the same CAD files. The company had a central storage drive located on a server at our home office.

All workstations had access to the drive to pull CAD files. We were to work in the drawing on the server so that no two people would be making changes to the same file at the same time. (For those that don't know if you open a file and someone else opens the same file after you, they get "This File is in use by "workstation name here" and can only be opened as read only)

The system worked great for us with more than 500 employees accessing and changing CAD files daily.

Simple easy and cost effective.

[CAD Library]

Another way is to use a browser based file hosting solution. I use a project and taskmanger which let employers and clients up and download files.

 

Also a great way is Google APS. You can store any files online and even work on excel spread sheets and word documents. Share your docs and files whit everybody you want worldwide. free trail.

[draftermax]

call Cisco systems solution.

[czc]

I've heard people do some interesting things with dropbox.

[anna575]

Well, This is one of the easiest web based project management software. It's very simple easy and cost effective. Google APS is the best way for you. It can save your files and docs which is very essential for you.