What factors drive U.S.-based glazing contractors to consider in-house drafting vs. outsourcing?

For the answer, CAD-PLAN North America partnered with Key Media & Research (KMR) to survey glazing contractors across all U.S. regions and various company size categories about their drafting processes and pain points.

Data-Driven Research

Worldwide, more than 10,000 glazing contractors and industry professionals use CAD-PLAN’s ATHENA AutoCAD®-based software and APOLLON Inventor™-based technology for drafting, designing and engineering curtain wall, façade and glazing systems.

As part of an expansive, international company based in Germany, CAD-PLAN continually invests in data-driven research and customer feedback to develop and improve its software solutions. To better understand the North American market challenges and opportunities, CAD-PLAN collaborated with KMR’s research team to gain actionable insights.

“With more than 30 years of experience supporting global users in 70 countries, and several years of on-the-ground support and service in the U.S. and Canada, we always want to learn more,” said Jan Krutsky, President and General Manager, CAD-PLAN North America.

Utilizing its vast network of glazing industry members, KMR’s research experts helped CAD-PLAN develop appropriate, proprietary questions and professionally conduct the survey, collect and analyze the data, and report the findings. Together, they sought insights to three key questions:

• Why do some glazing contractors rely on in-house drafting?
• Why do other glazing contractors outsource their drafting?
• What effect does the company size have on their decision?

Industry Insights

“The CAD-PLAN team was able to gain valuable and actionable insights in this project, as many of the findings were rather definitive,” said Nick St. Denis, Vice President of research and data, KMR. “We were also pleased that the respondent base was well-distributed regionally and from a company size standpoint, which gave us confidence in the data.”

According to KMR’s research findings:

• In analyzing the data by company size (in terms of number of employees), larger firms generally handle their drafting processes in-house at a much higher rate than smaller firms.

• Two-thirds of survey respondents say they primarily handle their drafting processes in-house. One-third of survey respondents say that their drafting processes are all or mostly outsourced.

• “Control over the drafting process” is the most important factor/consideration for glazing contractors that handle their drafting in-house. Regarding potential bottlenecks in their in-house drafting processes, they are most concerned with speed, accuracy, and duplicated, repetitive, rework efforts.

• Glazing contractors that outsource their drafting processes are most concerned with faster turnaround times. Cost and quality assurance also stand out as important factors.

Market Opportunities

“Everyone wants to save time and money while maintaining quality control – whether you’re a large glazing contractor with in-house drafting teams, a shop drawing provider with dedicated drafting staff or a small team that wants to expand your capabilities,” said Rulon Allred, Sales Manager, CAD-PLAN North America.

He continued, “The survey findings indicate a tremendous opportunity for CAD-PLAN to help glazing contractors accelerate their turnaround time by automating daily routines. Our software lets you work 30% to 50% faster when drafting and designing curtain wall, façade and glazing systems than in standard AutoCAD.”

With faster drafting time and equal or greater accuracy, glazing contractors work more efficiently and effectively, freeing up time for other responsibilities. High-quality drawings create a good first impression on proposals, helping win more bids. Once awarded, dependable contract drawings ensure a reliable, productive pathway from input to output, and ultimately to fabrication and installation.

For glazing contractors transitioning from 2D to 3D, CAD-PLAN also presents a cost-effective solution that can carry workflow all the way to the CNC machine, helping save additional coding and rework time.

Experience the difference by trying a free 30-day trial of ATHENA.