SolidWorks® Administration Bible

Chapter 5. Training Users

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Setting up a training and evaluation criteria

• Recognizing and mentoring power users

• Using the Web as a resource for learning

CAD training is a topic that gets uneven attention and treatment throughout the industry. People who are focused on the short term will rarely be able to justify training, even if it is clear that a significant improvement in operations would take place. On the other hand, some CAD Administrators take an academic view of their jobs and may not be as practically focused, as they should be.

Training can be viewed by management as a money pit. First of all, if users are being trained, they are not doing work. Second, hiring a trainer is always expensive, so you're paying double to not have work done. To add insult to injury, you often wind up paying for training on topics that aren't immediately profitable to the company. Why would an injection molder want to learn sheet metal techniques in SolidWorks?

Reseller training is usually billed on a per-seat basis, with little if any discount for multiple students. Reseller training materials are written by SolidWorks Corp, and are generally highly regarded, but the classes for end users are delivered by reseller employees, which can vary from highly expert in a field to novice SolidWorks users with no industry experience.

Fortunately, positive answers exist for all these questions and concerns. Training can be targeted to only cover relevant topics, to not take up production time, ...