Operational integration of CAD data and the impact on organizational development in a small business

Abstract

The influence that large companies have over small businesses is quickly apparent with the struggle to remain aligned in terms of internal capabilities and allocation of resources. Unfortunately, small businesses are often at the mercy of their larger counterparts with regard to the extent of technological integration with what were once manual and laborious work processes. The cost of such improvements impacts the ability of many small organizations to remain competitive in a market that continually moves forward. One particular method of keeping current with larger competitors is to leverage existing assets to create value added services in other areas of the company. The development of advanced CAD packages, such as SolidWorks, has allowed small businesses to expand in-house resources in a manner that not only supports design and engineering but also operational pieces such as procurement, inventory, and accounting and finance. This is only a small facet of the true power that CAD has within a company, as the software reaches and extends deeper into several aspects of organizational development and improvement in the way it positively impacts various departments.