We run our part drawings service as a permanent team that scales up and down per project, not as a pool of rotating freelancers put together differently for every job. One drafter draws the part, a second team member checks the work, and from there we send the drawing on through the review layers before it reaches you.
We are an outsourced drafting team that takes this work off your hands, fully remotely from our own office and on our own licences. We draft; we do not do engineering, and we do not produce structural calculations.
Everyone who works for us has more than ten years of CAD experience, and the core of our team brings around twenty-five years of combined experience. Sam, our team leader, directs the CAD team, oversees the technical side and remains your fixed point of contact for technical coordination throughout the project. Barry, our project manager, is your first point of contact for a new enquiry and holds the initial conversation, so you know from the start who to turn to.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What our part drawings service delivers
When you outsource part drawings to us, you get drawings that work out a single part completely, from its overall shape down to the smallest dimension. That starts with an elevation and a section that make the shape of the part clear, supplemented with the dimensions, tolerances and material choice you supply. For parts you have made from metal or plastic, we also add machining symbols and surface treatments, insofar as they belong on the drawing. Where a part comes in several sizes or variants, such as a valve needed in both a 90 and a 110 size within a piping system in greenhouse construction, we build it as a parametric Revit family.
That way the right variant is in place in a single step, rather than us drawing each size separately by hand, and the material schedule updates automatically as soon as something changes. Alongside individual part drawings, we also provide 3D modelling in Rhino or Inventor where needed, and convert the result into the format used further down the chain.
We also process revisions to existing part drawings, for example when a tolerance or material choice changes. We deliver output in DXF, DWG, the Revit formats and STEP files, and in practice in any common CAD format. We always work with the latest software versions. Our set-up follows your standards and drawing conventions, so the part fits logically into the rest of the drawing set and nobody has to straighten anything out afterwards.
How a part drawing project runs
A part drawing project starts with a conversation in which you explain which part or series of parts you need drawn. Usually you will send us existing drawings, a sketch or an existing model as a starting point. Barry is your contact for that first enquiry; after that Sam takes over the technical side. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days, and as soon as we have enough information we can start.
We do not deliver everything in one go at the end, but in stages. For a series of parts we send the first part drawing back to you, so you can check that the dimensions and detailing are right before we finish the rest of the series in the same way. Based on that feedback we make changes where needed and carry on with the next parts. We agree the rhythm of check-ins based on the schedule: every two days on a tight project, weekly for calmer work.
Files go back and forth by email, and on larger projects we use software you can log into to follow progress. We work in our own environment on our own licences, so you do not have to set anything up on your side. A short first assignment is possible if you would like us to draw a single part first, to see how quickly and accurately we work before a larger series follows.
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.
When outsourcing part drawings makes sense
Outsourcing part drawings does not make equal sense for every part. If it is a single simple part your own team can quickly make time for, drawing it in-house is often quicker than setting up an external project. Outsourcing starts to pay off as soon as the volume increases, when many variants of the same part are in the pipeline, or when the part belongs to a larger series that would otherwise tie up your drawing office for weeks. A manufacturer that needs dozens of variants of the same component gains more from a parametric set-up than from separate manual drawings, and that kind of set-up is how we work as standard. With a peak, a deadline that can no longer move or a vacancy that stays unfilled, outsourcing is also often a faster route than recruiting someone yourself for temporary work.
If, on the other hand, the part remains closely tied to ongoing design decisions that require daily contact with the engineer, it is sometimes more practical to keep it close to your own team, because coordination then takes less time. We are open about that: not every piece of work is equally suited to outsourcing, and we would rather help you think through what does and does not make sense than take on everything. We weigh that up with you in the first conversation, based on the scope, the repetition and the schedule of the project. That way we avoid you handing us work your own team could just as well have done itself.
How we differ from a freelancer or new hire
The difference between us and an individual freelancer or a new permanent employee lies mainly in what happens when things go wrong. With us, there is a team behind every assignment, not one person. If a drafter is off sick or on holiday, we replace that person so the work simply carries on, which is not a given with a single freelancer or a newly hired employee.
On top of that, every part we draw goes through at least three layers of review: a drafter draws, a second team member checks, Sam looks at the technical side as team leader and finally Barry goes over it as project manager.
With an individual freelancer that layered review is usually missing, and with a new employee that structure still has to grow. In addition, you pay us no ongoing salary costs, no onboarding time and no costs for a desk or licences that otherwise sit idle. With our large, flexible team we scale with the project, whereas a permanent employee remains fixed capacity, even when things are quieter. What also sets us apart is that our team is already in place: when things are urgent we add people straight away instead of recruiting first.
For a client who mainly needs extra drafting capacity at short notice, without an application process or a long-term contract, that is a practical difference you can see directly in the schedule. That difference counts most when a project is under time pressure.
Frequently asked questions about our part drawings service
Hand your part drawings 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.