Building a 60-Person Offshore CAD Drafting & Estimating Division for a Leading Building Materials Manufacturer
Client Background
A leading U.S. manufacturer of specialized fire-rated glass and framing systems needed to maintain rapid bid turnaround times. However, operating in a niche market with strict structural requirements puts intense pressure on their sales, estimating, and engineering teams to preserve absolute technical accuracy.
When the partnership was initiated in 2009, the manufacturer’s backend operations were constrained by heavily manual workflows. Knowledge transfer relied entirely on ad-hoc email communications, and no formalized onboarding infrastructure existed to ramp up new drafting or estimating personnel. Seeking a reliable model to scale production capacity and optimize sales responsiveness, they turned to Intelassist to design, staff, and embed a dedicated offshore support team.
Our Approach
Intelassist constructed a multi-disciplinary offshore technical division from the ground up, scaling a 3-person pilot into a deeply integrated unit of white-collar specialists. Our strategy focused on decoupling complex engineering tasks, mapping knowledge into actionable frameworks, and establishing rigorous quality assurance loops.
- Standardized SOP Ecosystem: Intelassist captured disparate operational rules to engineer the client’s first comprehensive SOP ecosystem, compiling drafting rules, detailed process flowcharts, and technical terminology libraries for fire-rated classifications.
- Tailored Vertical Training Pathways: We built strict, time-bound onboarding tracks: a 1-month program for estimators with escalating complexity tiers, and a 3-to-6 month structural progression pipeline for technical drafters.
- Multi-Tiered Governance & Quality Assurance: We instituted a peer-review "buddy" QA system alongside internal verification checklists to prevent errors before deliverables reached U.S. teams. Operations were stabilized via daily alignment syncs, weekly internal reviews, and monthly governance meetings with client executives.
Challenges and Solutions
Challenge: Institutional Knowledge Silos
Workflows were unmapped, relying on scattered email exchanges and loose organizational knowledge for complex product classifications.
Solution: Living Knowledge Management Base
Systematically captured and centralized every U.S. engineering directive into a living knowledge base, creating structured rules documentation and terminology matrices.
Challenge: Manual Estimations
Estimating was executed purely through manual Excel inputs, introducing human error risks and delaying sales rep responsiveness.
Solution: Automated Formula Logic Tools
Engineered Excel estimating tools integrated with localized zip code logic, structural rule validation, and automated sales routing.
Partnership Outcomes
By automating processes and offering professional career paths to licensed architects and dedicated estimators in the Philippines, Intelassist solved a chronic industry challenge: talent turnover. This approach built a highly stable, tenured workforce, with a significant portion of the team reaching over five years of tenure.
The operational agility and predictable cost structures delivered by the offshore division have become foundational pillars sustaining the client’s position as the premier provider of fire-rated glazing infrastructure.