The question behind a search for a 3D drafting firm in the Netherlands is usually very concrete: who will take over this modelling work, how quickly can that happen, and what does the price depend on. The short answer. We take over 3D modelling, 2D drafting, as-builts and revisions with a large, variable team that scales with each project.
We respond to an enquiry within 1 to 2 working days and start as soon as we have enough information. We charge by the hour or per project at a fixed price, as agreed, and we only bill productive working hours.
Everyone who drafts for us has more than ten years of CAD experience, and every sheet passes through three review layers before it goes back to you. We draft and model; we do not do engineering. Our focus is on the Netherlands and we carry out the work remotely from our own office. Below we work through those points: how costs are built up, scaling up, how a project runs and the clients this applies to.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
How costs are built up at our 3D drafting firm
The cost question almost always comes first, so we address it first too. We work by the hour or per project at a fixed price, and we decide together with you which option fits. A clearly outlined package, for example a known series of models or a defined set of sheets, lends itself to a fixed price. Work whose scope only becomes clear along the way, such as a revision round on a model that has passed through many hands over the years, is better suited to an hourly rate. We are happy to explain what an hour means with us, because that is where providers differ.
We only bill productive working hours. If someone steps away for five minutes for coffee, the clock stops, and we do not bill meetings that have nothing to do with the drafting work. We do not work with prepaid hour bundles or a monthly hours subscription, so nothing keeps running when there is no work for a while. You pay no payroll costs, no workstation and no licences, because we work in our own environment with our own licences. What keeps costs down lies mainly at the front end.
A complete design basis, a clear CAD standard and source files that are correct save searching, and components that recur in series we prefer to build parametrically once. Quick feedback on a partial delivery is also cheaper than a correction round across the whole set. We only prepare an estimate after we have seen the documents, and then backed up by the number of sheets and the complexity. Without those documents, any estimate remains a shot in the dark.
Capacity and scaling up at a 3D drafting firm
The reason behind an enquiry is almost always capacity: too little time, too few drafters, or a peak your own team cannot handle. We solve that with a team that is already in place. An assignment often starts with one drafter, and as the volume grows we put as many drafters on it as needed from our large, variable team. We do not need to recruit first, so when something is urgent we add people straight away. For you, that means little extra organisation on your side.
You keep one fixed point of contact, and Sam, our team leader, distributes the work internally and oversees the technical side. Extra hands do not produce inconsistent sheets, because everyone works to the same conventions and the review layers stay in place. In case of illness or holidays we replace someone, so the schedule does not slip and no knowledge is lost. That is exactly the difference with a hired individual who has no backup when they drop out. No ongoing payroll costs arise, because as soon as the work is done it stops.
If it turns out halfway through that more is needed, we simply scale up without setting up a new project. We work nationwide from our own office and the work is carried out remotely, so where your company is located makes no difference to staffing. Our focus is on the Netherlands, and clients are welcome to visit whenever they like. If you share your schedule with us early, you get the most room, because we can then keep people available specifically for you.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
The process from first conversation to final sheet
We do not start with a quote from a distance, but with a conversation. You call or use the contact form on our website, and we respond within 1 to 2 working days. In that conversation we go through the work that needs doing, which package the existing documents are in, which drawing conventions apply and where the time pressure comes from. You then send us the details, usually with existing drawings or models that need a revision. We review that material first and put our assumptions to you, because carrying on with a wrong assumption costs the most later. As soon as there is enough information, we start. From that point we deliver in stages. A first batch goes back to you, you give feedback, we process it and pick up the next batch. The rhythm of meetings differs per client: every two days when things need to move fast, weekly with a calmer schedule.
We deliver standalone AutoCAD drafting by email, and for larger projects we use software you can log in to and follow progress. Along the way every sheet passes three review layers, so you never have to assess a rough interim version. At the end, the complete set comes to you in the agreed format, with the source files and with the families or templates we have built. If a change comes in afterwards, we handle the revision within the same set and the same conventions. We keep the agreed sheet numbering, so a later revision lands in the same structure and nobody has to search the archive for the right version.
Who uses our 3D drafting firm in the Netherlands
The companies that approach us are engineering firms, architectural practices, contractors and manufacturers, and more broadly companies with technical drafting work. The people we talk to are managers, team leaders and owners, in other words people who are judged on lead times themselves. The problem they bring to us is rarely complicated: there is more modelling work than there are hands.
Sometimes that is due to an assignment that turns out bigger than expected, sometimes a drafter leaving, sometimes a deadline that cannot slip. Underneath there is often a second layer. Their own modellers are stuck in work that mostly costs time, while the project lead would rather deploy them on the parts where their knowledge of the project counts.
A third situation we come across regularly is a file that no longer matches reality, for example an as-built set that was partly updated by hand and where nobody knows any more which version is leading. We took on something like that at Firefly, where the existing drawings had been printed incorrectly and were poorly legible. We worked it out ourselves instead of calling the client constantly and still delivered it neatly.
We have since completed more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings for that client. A client's request led us to this service last year, and we have offered it as a permanent service ever since. If a project lead recognises their situation in this, one conversation is enough to decide whether it is a good fit. You can reach us by phone or via the contact form on our website.
Frequently asked questions about a 3D drafting firm in the Netherlands
Hand your 3D modelling over to us
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.