Outsourcing Inventor drafting only works if it is settled in advance who does the work and who directs it. With us, that is fixed before the first drawing is opened. We have a dedicated team of drafters who all have more than ten years of CAD experience, and Sam, our team leader, directs them. Sam worked in Iran for seven years, has well over fifteen years of background in architecture, ran his own design firm in the Netherlands and still works as an engineer alongside this.
He is responsible for the technical side and project supervision.
Barry, our project manager, is usually the first point of contact for a new enquiry and stays involved through to delivery. We draft and model. Engineering, calculations and structural advice are explicitly not part of that. The work is done entirely remotely from our own office, in our own environment and on our own licences. Clients are welcome to visit, but the work itself stays remote. Our large, variable team scales with each project, depending on what is on the table. When it is urgent, we add people to the team straight away.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What we deliver when you outsource Inventor drafting
If you are considering whether to outsource Inventor drafting, you first want to know what output comes back. We deliver 2D drafting and, where needed, 3D modelling, plus as-built drawings and revisions to existing sets. In practice that means part drawings, assemblies, elevations and sections, dimensioned drawings and the associated bills of materials. We use Inventor alongside Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, and where a model calls for it, Grasshopper, Dynamo and Vault come into play. We always work with the latest versions. Exchange runs through DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP files, and we also handle any other common CAD format.
For a manufacturer, it often comes down to a long series of variants on the same base model. A profile that recurs in four lengths, a bracket that shifts position per configuration, a pipe section that has to exist in both 90 and 110. That kind of work is repetitive and high in volume, and that is what we are set up for. We draw it and we model it, but we do not calculate anything and we do not advise on structures. If you supply a set that has been partly updated by hand, we would rather work it out ourselves than call your drawing office every day.
That is how we completed more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings for Firefly. The delivered set fits whatever happens to it next, whether that is production, assembly or a file that needs to last for years. Exactly which drawing types are needed and in which format they come back is agreed in the first conversation. If it turns out along the way that another drawing type is needed, we include it in the ongoing rhythm.
Communication and point of contact when you outsource Inventor drafting
If you are seriously considering outsourcing Inventor drafting, communication is mostly what you look at. We keep it lean and direct. Barry picks up the new enquiry, after which Sam takes over the technical side, so you keep one fixed point of contact instead of a changing line of contact persons. We decide the meeting rhythm together. On a project running to a tight schedule we speak every two days; for calmer work, weekly contact is enough. Day-to-day communication goes by email and phone, supplemented by meetings when there is something to decide.
We come to you or you come to us, whichever is practical. Files generally go back and forth by email. On larger projects, such as greenhouse construction projects, we use software you can log into to follow the progress of the project. For standalone drafting that is unnecessary, and we simply deliver by email. So you can look over our shoulder where it makes sense, without an extra layer of administration. What we do not do is log into your environment, because we work on our own licences in our own environment.
We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days, so your project lead quickly knows where they stand. We process feedback within the ongoing series, not only at the end. This way of working keeps the distance between your drawing office and our drafter small, even though the work physically takes place elsewhere. If you would rather have the conversation first before anything is agreed, you can start there.
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.
Ownership and confidentiality of the files
What we draw is and remains your intellectual property. That is not an exception or a negotiating point; it is the starting principle. When you place drafting work outside your organisation, you hand over material that often contains years of accumulated knowledge, and it must be absolutely clear who controls it afterwards. We deliver the source files, not a print in a closed format, so the set can be edited further internally without us. That remains the case even when a project ends. So far we have not signed a non-disclosure agreement, simply because clients have not asked for one, but we are open to an NDA and will sign one without discussion if your organisation wishes. For a manufacturer with its own production secrets in its assemblies, that is a logical step.
Confidentiality also lies in the way we work. The work stays within our own team and our own environment, and does not pass through a chain of loose hands. The review layers we use also mean that only a limited, fixed group of people sees the file. Files that go back and forth by email stay in our project folder and do not drift around. The same boundaries apply on larger projects where you follow along in software. At the start we ask for your organisation's drawing conventions and standards, and we use them exclusively for that project. If you want firm agreements on this up front, you can raise it in the introductory meeting and have it put in writing straight away.
How outsourcing Inventor drafting works in practice
With us, a project to outsource Inventor drafting always starts with a conversation. In it, we go through the project, look at the scope and establish what information is still missing. You then supply the details and usually existing drawings that need revising. We assess that set and tell you whether it is usable as it is or whether parts would be better rebuilt.
With a messy starting point, repairing sometimes takes more time than starting again, and in that case we simply say so. As soon as there is enough information, the drafting can start. We deliver in stages. A first batch of drawings goes back, you review it, we collect the comments and process them, and then the next series runs.
That keeps deviations small and avoids a pile of corrections arriving all at once at the end. Every stage goes through at least three review layers before it leaves our office, so what you see has already been checked. The rhythm adapts to the deadline. When a delivery for Firefly could not slip, the team worked evenings and weekends with days of fourteen to fifteen hours, even during a planned holiday of Sam, the team leader.
Peaks like that are not the norm, but they show how we deal with a hard date. A short first project is possible, so you can judge our speed and accuracy before more work is handed over. You can reach us by phone or through the contact form, followed by a conversation in which we go through the project.
Frequently asked questions about outsourcing Inventor drafting
Hand your Inventor drafting 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.