Need help getting organized!!

I need some tips on getting our CAD files organized. Im new to this position and the last guy left everything in one big mess. How do you guys keep track of all your CAD files? Do you use a database program? How do you name each file so you know what it is for?

As far as a database program is there one that you can use for CAD files and also hard copy prints? I would like to find something that I can keep track and search for certain prints.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[cadkid]

Every Industry is a bit different here are a couple of different ideas.
You could start by creating a folder lets say dwg, then sub folders under that for each drawing or drawing category. For an example if you just have 40 or 50 drawings and keep track by name just make sub folders for each drawing. If you have hundreds or even thousands of drawings that idea is not really efficient to say the least. You could assign numbers to each drawing and create the folder and sub folder but, this time name the folders in a general category, let's say sub folder 6000 for all drawings that that are in the 6000 range 7000 for all drawings that are in the 7000 range, and so on.
You could use a MS Access database to keep track of your drawings. Simply create the database, create a table with all relevent information(description, drawing name, location)
then use drawing location as a hyperlink to that file. Now when you click on that hyperlink that drawing will open. You can keep the database open and when you want to open a new drawing just select a new hyperlink. This is really a good way to go for printing information ablout the drawing and, if your drawings reside on a server you can give access to the database to your entire team. This way you only have one format for everyone.
Hope this helps

 

[sc]

In my office we work with job numbers as the main drawing name and then place a sheet number in the file name as well, eg.

job No. M8-0021-43-SE
which identifies office, client, job, work type)

sheet numbers 1,2,3, etc
gives,

file name: M8-0021-43-SE C1.dwg

the C1 identifies it as a civil engineering drawing. This letter can vary to identify different drawing types, eg S for structural, W for water, M for mechanical, etc.

Using this system we can keep our directory structure simple naming as follows:

c:\dwg\M8-0021-43-SE\"drawing name"

This also reduces the risk of duplicate file naming which can upset some archiving programs.

sc

 

[knobhead]

This program might help: Drawing Searcher.
It catalogues all your drawings for you, and lets you search through them by any string in the drawing. Go to

http://www.docu-point.com

 

[DesignControl]

CODE-BLUE,

You describe a common problem that plagues many engineering departments. As cadkid and sc indicated, some try to make sence of all their drawings by utilizing the hierarchial structures of the OS's folders. Sometimes this is not enough though.

There are electronic/engineering document management (EDM) applications (be careful, some do not work well with CAD), product data management (PDM) applications that offer more functionality than pure document management, and there are other types of applications that can do much more.

Why don't you post more information about your situation... types of files, quantity of files, number of CAD users, number of non-CAD users that need read-only access, or any other pertinent info.