The database is used to collect and manage all project data.  When compared to a CAD operator entering text into a CAD file, database tools permit the same amount of data to be collected in a fraction of the time.  Upon the completion of the data collection, a programming application is initiated.  The application analyzes all the database information and then links the database to a CAD system.  At this point, the application creates the required CAD files and performs all the necessary drafting and text entry functions.  Because this application is run in batch mode, the result is a virtual elimination of all real time drafting.  The only real time drafting necessary for document automation is library maintenance.  By minimizing such a large portion of the conversion effort, it is easy to see what great savings in both time and effort can be realized.

Now that you see how document automation works, you are probably curious as to the quality of the CAD files it produces.  The answer, simply put, is "the best possible".  Our goal is to provide you with CAD files that are better than the best CAD files currently on your system.  Our starting point for each new project is to incorporate the format and style of the best examples of each particular type drawing to be produced.  Our next step is to integrate all of your most current standards and symbology into the automation program.  By combining the speed and consistency of a database application with your current standards, document automation not only converts your documentation to CAD files, but also does it in the most up-to-date manner possible.  Regardless of the age of your documentation or how many times it has been revised, our conversion technique will produce CAD files that are contemporary and perfectly consistent in form and content.

In addition to the conversion of your existing documents into first-rate CAD files in the most timely and cost-effective manner, there are other benefits to be realized by using document automation.  Upon the completion of a project, all information pertaining to each element of each converted drawing can be found in database format.  This allows you to produce project-wide reports and queries rather than look through individual drawings.  Each of the elements can also be found in your project's graphics library, ready to be used on any subsequent drawings.  Our pricing policy is also a favorable function of the automating process.  Because we have eliminated so much of the overhead associated with conventional drafting, we can give you a fixed cost per drawing rate as opposed to an hourly rate.  You will know in advance exactly what your total conversion costs will be.

Document automation isn't a panacea for all conversion or drafting problems.  It is not as effective on drawings that have a great deal of uniqueness (civil, architectural, structural) as it is on drawings that are predominantly schematic (electrical, instrumentation, telecommunications).  But, these drawings that are best suited to document automation are the drawings that you most want on your CAD system.  These are the drawings that stand the greatest chance of