CAD Services: All Shapes and Sizes

There are myriad CAD services worldwide and no two are the same. To make sense of this diverse landscape, here is a classification system.

Small, Inexpensive
This is the one or two-man show which is how many CAD services start off. The advantage of such a CAD drafting firm is that prices will be very low. The disadvantage will be low reliability, because of no labor redundancy… i.e., if one of the drafters falls sick, there is no one to take over and finish your drawings on time. Also, being small, the vendor could very well disappear overnight. This would happen if, say, the drafters were offered high-paying, risk free full-time jobs by a larger CAD services .

Medium, Moderately Priced
Here we’re talking about a CAD service with 50 – 100 people. This could be your  best bet. The advantage is there will be contingency staff to stand in when drafters suddenly take vacation; also, such firms usually have engineers and architects to supervise the work knowledgeably. The disadvantage is that prices will be higher than those of small firms.

Large, Higher Priced
These are CAD services with 100 – 1000 people working in them. The advantages are the same as in a medium-sized firm. Additionally, because the firm has deeper pockets, you may receive better discounts if you are a large engineering or architectural firm. Also, the service is likely to specialize in many CAD software platforms apart from the mandatory AutoCAD: they may have experience drafting in MicroStation, Pro-E or Solid Works, for instance. The disadvantage is that if you are a small customer, they might not be very interested.

When all is said and done, evaluate several CAD services carefully, making as few assumptions as possible.

Good Luck!