Outsourcing CAD drafting makes sense when project workloads exceed your in-house capacity, deadlines begin to suffer, or your team needs production expertise it doesn’t have internally. Additional CAD support can help manage temporary workload increases, larger projects, or specialised production needs without requiring a permanent expansion of your drafting staff.

A project can be moving ahead on schedule while the drawing workload quietly becomes a problem. Maybe the backlog keeps growing. Maybe your production team is already committed to other projects. Perhaps a new opportunity requires CAD or BIM capabilities you don’t regularly keep in-house. In each case, the issue is similar: there is more production work than your current team can comfortably absorb.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to hire another full-time employee. Sometimes, what you need is additional production capacity for a specific period or project.

At Brandywine CAD, we provide CAD and BIM production support for architects, engineers, contractors and other building-related professionals. Our role is to provide production support while the design responsibility remains with the appropriate A/E team. So, how do you know when outside support makes sense?

When the backlog starts affecting the schedule

A backlog isn’t automatically a reason to outsource. A busy week or a demanding project is normal. The warning sign is when the drafting workload starts affecting everything around it.

If drawings are consistently waiting for someone to become available, revisions are being pushed back, or staff members are moving from project to project just to keep up, your production capacity may have become a constraint.

The same thing can happen when several projects reach drawing-heavy stages at the same time. Your team may have enough overall experience to handle the work, but not enough hours to do it all without creating pressure elsewhere.

Adding outside production support can give the in-house team more room to manage the work that requires their direct involvement.

When hiring doesn’t make sense for the workload

Hiring can be the right answer when you have a long-term need for additional staff. It isn’t always the practical answer for a temporary increase in production work. Consider a firm that wins a larger project than usual. The workload may remain elevated for several months, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the company needs another permanent production position. The same applies when several projects overlap unexpectedly.

Outsourcing can provide another option: add production capacity when you need it without making a permanent staffing decision based on a temporary workload.

At B-CAD, we work with firms that have limited in-house production staff or want the ability to take on larger projects without expanding their permanent production team.

When a project needs skills you don’t keep in-house

Capacity isn’t always about the number of people available. Sometimes the issue is having the right production experience for a particular project.

A project may require work across several disciplines, or your team may need to produce both 2D drawings and 3D models. You may have strong design expertise but limited production experience with a particular software workflow. That’s where specialist production support can fill a gap.

We support architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, plumbing and electrical CAD production. Our work includes 2D drawings and 3D models, including plans, elevations, sections, details and schedules for existing and proposed facilities.

The point isn’t to replace the knowledge already inside your firm. It’s to give that knowledge more production support when the workload calls for it.

When your team is spending too much time on production

There is another sign that’s easy to overlook: your most valuable people are spending too much of their time producing drawings.

A project architect or engineer may need to review, coordinate and make design decisions, but a growing production workload can pull them into drafting tasks simply because there aren’t enough available production hours. That can make the whole team less efficient.

Outside CAD support gives firms another way to divide the work. Your team can stay focused on design, coordination and client responsibilities while production work is handled by additional CAD resources. That arrangement doesn’t require handing over control of the project. It simply changes who is handling some of the production work.

Outsourcing doesn’t have to mean handing over the project

The word “outsourcing” can make it sound as though an entire project is being transferred somewhere else. It doesn’t have to work that way.

A firm can use outside CAD support for a defined portion of a project, a particular phase, a backlog of drawings or a temporary increase in workload. The scope can be established around what the in-house team actually needs.

At B-CAD, we work as production staff for A/E firms rather than taking design responsibility away from them. That distinction can make outside support much easier to fit into an existing workflow.

It’s easier to add support before the backlog takes over

The best time to consider additional production capacity isn’t necessarily when the team is already overwhelmed. If every available person is already committed, deadlines are approaching and drawings are piling up, there are fewer good options left. A better approach is to watch the workload before it reaches that point.

• Are projects regularly competing for the same production staff? 
• Is your team turning down opportunities because there isn’t enough drafting capacity? 
• Are experienced staff members spending increasing amounts of time on production instead of their primary responsibilities? 

Those questions can tell you more than a single deadline can. For some firms, the answer will still be to handle the work internally. For others, bringing in outside CAD support at the right point can prevent a temporary capacity issue from becoming a larger project-management problem.

FAQs

What are some signs a firm needs outside CAD support?
A growing backlog, overlapping project deadlines, limited production staff or a temporary increase in drawing work can all indicate that additional support may be useful.

Can outsourced CAD support work with an in-house team?
Yes. Outside production support can be used alongside an existing team for specific projects, drawing packages, disciplines or periods of increased workload.

What kind of CAD and BIM work can BCAD support?
We provide 2D and 3D CAD production and BIM services, including plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules and 3D models. We can support work from schematic design through design development and construction drawings.

Which disciplines does BCAD support?
Our CAD support covers architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, plumbing and electrical disciplines.

Does BCAD take over project design?
No. We work as production staff for A/E firms while the appropriate architects and engineers retain responsibility for the design.