offshore documentation production

[schagemann]

dear all,

does anybody have any experience with an offshore architectural drafting provider, i.e. outsourcing some of the drafting packages to a third party.

we are particularly interested in the following:

1. quality of produced drawings;

2. are the cost benefits (savings in equipment & HR) outweighed by long distance communication inefficiencies, cultural & language barriers;

3. how do you deal with and communicate local regulatory requirements and construction methods;

4. how did you deal with technical problems, e.g. access to large bimserver files and how do you do markups (scans?);

any experiences, ideas & feedback are much appreciated.

ds.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Note to all:

If any posts are made in this thread by someone OFFERING such services, they will be DELETED by a moderator. You may offer services in the Ads forum only.

This thread is specifically for people who have USED such services.

Just wanted to be pro-active before the ads started flowing. Actual experiences will be interesting to hear about.

Cheers,
Karl (with co-moderator hat)

[Anonymous]

my 2¢ ...

I'm, in a way, a 'champion' for long distance working - but with some very important caveats
As to production drawings specifically I look at it this way:

• if I have someone doing them ideally I would like them to be physically next to me
  if not in easy earshot
  if not on the same floor of the same building
  or if a freelancer, with regular visits and a quick phone call away
  best with a good 'feel' for the construction culture for where the building is going up
  not to mention knowledge (and lessons from past agonising mistakes) with local codes, construction details etc
  definitely speaking the same language
  so, among other obvious things, they can occasionally pick up the phone to a supplier/manufacturer/contractor
  and don't underestimate good (appropriate) phone manner with all of these people
  
  ... so you can see that if you outsource your drawings to China, India or Pakistan (I have flirted with the latter two) ... the scorecard on the list above will be very low

I know there are people out there who do it successfully, so I would love to hear from them - but this aspect of 'long distance' is not for me


... ps - I just realised that I didn't mention cost once. Maybe there is a reason for that. Cost is not only measured today, for one category of personnel - but also in your (more expensive) time, and long term

[schagemann]

amonie,

thanks very much - i personally agree with all your points, but as you i am still wondering if there are any people willing to share their actual experiences.

i do understand that this is a sensitive topic as some people may not be willing to admit that they are outsourcing - may i suggest for these still willing to share their experiences to send me a private message.

ds.