When our engineering firm started growing, we assumed the next step was hiring more engineers. That felt logical—until we looked closer at how our time was actually being spent.
Our senior engineers weren’t overloaded with engineering decisions. They were overloaded with drafting updates, redlines, and documentation work that pulled them away from design and review. Hiring more engineers would have increased costs without fixing the bottleneck.
The real issue wasn’t capacity. It was technical production.
By shifting AutoCAD production and documentation work to a stable offshore operations team in the Philippines, we freed our engineers to focus on what only they could do. Redlines, as-builts, and drawing updates moved faster, and engineering quality improved because people were finally working in their proper roles.
The biggest lesson?
Offshore support only works when it’s structured. Engineers should lead. AutoCAD operators should execute. When those boundaries are clear, productivity rises without adding chaos.