Below we provide practical steps, insights and experiences to conduct an effective CAD audit to optimize your organization's performance.

Every good audit starts with a clear reason: there are errors, inefficiencies or bottlenecks that need to be fixed. So your first step is to identify the problems that need to be addressed. This lays the foundation for a focused audit.

Three perspectives:

• CAD users provide insight into daily obstacles in their workflow.
• Project managers (PMs) focus on schedules, customer expectations and deadline issues.
• IT departments identify issues around security, licensing and system configuration.

Gathering input from all stakeholders creates a balanced picture of the situation

Once you have collected all the bottlenecks, it is time to analyze and categorize them. To do this, use this hierarchy:

• Problems mentioned by all parties are almost certainly priorities.
• User + PM: Problems in communication, file sharing or standards.
• PM exclusive: Often due to poor communication or unclear expectations.
• User exclusive: Signals of lack of standards or tooling.
• IT exclusive: Security, licensing or infrastructure issues.

This filtering helps you isolate and prioritize core issues.

A common mistake is reaching too quickly for new software as a solution. But: new software is rarely the real solution. Two real-life examples:

• Company A invested heavily in new 3D software, when the real problem was poor processes and inadequate training. Result: expensive misstep, back to square one.
• Company B has been optimizing their existing tools through continuous internal audits for 20 years. They focus on error reduction and product quality - not trendy tools.

Lesson: Focus solutions on process improvement, not product replacement - unless really necessary.

We bring the findings together in a clear, concise report with:

• Problems and causes
• Severity by problem (impact on production and quality)
• Stakeholders involved
• Proposed solutions
• Estimated costs (training, time, tools)
• Recommended next steps with room for feedback

A CAD Audit is not a one-time task, but a strategic tool to improve your design and engineering processes. Cadkunde offers this CAD Inventor Audit.