CadTempo Display Timer

I'm often asked how the timer functions in CadTempo work. I'll explain the basic timers in this article and in a future article I will describe the advanced timing functions that are a part of the new analytics in CadTempo version 6.




The CadTempo Timer Display

 

 



You will note that in this image the optional Task Timer and Activity Timers are enabled and displayed because "Extended Display" is selected as an option within the CadTempoView program allowing the user to view the current information. You can use this display to observe the timing functions of your CadTempo installation - see the help file for further instructions, this is found under: Contents>>CadTempo.exe>>Display Timer.

Let's begin by examining the information that is displayed in the lower section of the display.

Current Session Elapsed Time:

Session Time

You might think of the Session Timer as a time punch clock that you punch in as you begin your day in the morning and punch out when your day is over. But there is a major difference, the CadTempo session timer is started automatically - there is no time clock to punch in or out of.

The CadTempo application is started automatically when the user logs onto the computer. When CadTempo detects that a monitored production application is started, the Session Timer is started and begins its tally. Any monitored production application will start the timer so if you have selected to monitor AutoCAD, Inventor, or Solidworks any of those programs will start the timer. The Session Time will continue to increment while any of the monitored programs remain open. Once all monitored production applications are closed the session time is ended and the results are written to the log. You may witness several session times being recorded throughout the day as you open and close your monitored production applications.

Current Task:

Task Time

When enabled, the Task Timer will prompt the user for a task name based on the list within the CadTempoView Options settings window. If the "When Session Begins" check box has been checked the prompt will appear when a monitored application is started. If left un-checked the prompt will appear upon Windows start up. A user is presented with a prompt as shown:

The visibility of the "Display Timer" button is controlled by an option within the CadTempoView program.

The user may select a pre-defined task name using the drop-down combo box or may enter a custom name. When entering a custom name the custom name is remembered during the CadTempo program's life and will continue to appear in the list, but is not added to the persistent pre-defined list.

The user may enter additional information that is specific to the current task.

An alternate user name may be specified. This may be useful if you or a user is performing a task on another user's computer, however the currently logged on user name is also recorded.

By checking the "Re-Prompt" check box the task timer prompt will be re-issued when a session has been completed.

A user may save the current task at any time by clicking the "CadTempo - Task Timer" in the Windows Task bar and selecting the "Finish" button which becomes visible once a task is started. If Re-Prompt is checked the prompt immediately re-appears to allow beginning a new task.

When a Session is ended the Save Task prompt will appear. The user may save the current task or continue with the current task. If a user elects to continue the current task the user will be required to manually perform a save unless there a log-off (or Lock, etc.) occurs. CadTempo will then perform an automatic save.

Current Idle Time:

Idle Time

The Idle Time is based on a user's keystrokes and mouse movement or button click while a monitored production application is the active window. Each input resets the counter and the timer will increment only when there is no input. By itself, the display of the Idle Timer is intended for understanding the functioning of the related time recordings. Its effect on the other timers will be described in their respective explanations.

Current Activity Time:

Activity Time

The idea behind the Activity Timer is to provide the user with a means of capturing extended time that is spent away from the computer. Often, a user may be interrupted during working hours to attend to a related activity such as a meeting or to consult with other departments. Perhaps a user regularly leaves a CAD program and drawing open during lunch hour or a short personal time break.

The Activity Timer is connected to the Idle Timer. You, as the CAD manager control what is acceptable as a reasonable amount of user idle time. Many users will experience momentary interruptions throughout their day, whether it be a client phone call, a restroom break or a needed diversion such as a brief discussion with a co-worker. The default value for this idle time is set to 5 minutes but you can adjust that up or down to your liking in the CadTempoView program.

When a user becomes "idle" the idle timer will begin counting up to the idle limit that is set. Once the idle limit is reached the Activity Timer begins its count up to its limit. The default activity limit is set to 20 minutes and is adjustable. If a user returns to the computer while under the limit and continues work the Activity Timer is reset to zero and the cycle begins anew.

If the activity timer reaches its limit, a prompt is issued and will be visible when the user returns to the computer. In this way a user can account for his extended time away from the computer rather than relying upon his memory at the end of the day or week to enter into a manual time sheet.

Using the default values of 5 minutes for the idle timer and 20 minutes for the activity timer a user can account for 25 minute (and more) of "away" time.


Finally, let's take a look at the document and user timers that are displayed at the top.

Document and User Timers:

Elapsed Time

The elapsed time is the total amount of time a monitored document type is open and has keyboard and mouse focus. The document may be an AutoCAD drawing, a Revit file, Inventor file or any number of file types you designate and associated with a monitored production application. This value will continuously increment while a document is open. When a user switches to another monitored production application the timer will immediately switch over along with the user and begin (or continue) timing the now current document. Each document retains its own elapsed time as well as the user time of that document.

Multiple users that access the same document are recorded independently and the document time is the accumulated amount of all users.

Edit Time

The edit time is the amount of time a user maintains keyboard and mouse activity within a known document type of a monitored production application. The edit time is affected by the idle timer. If a user is momentarily interrupted, the idle time, up to its limit is considered to be valid editing time. In this way a user is not penalized (not that they should be in any event) for brief periods of inactivity. There are of course many reasonable causes for these periods of idle time.

The resulting difference between Elapsed Time and Edit Time can be used as an indication of efficiency or productivity.

In summary, there is much going on within the CadTempo program to monitor your user activites and to document the time involved in various tasks. It can take a while to understand exactly how CadTempo functions and my hope is that I've described them to your satisfaction.

CadTempo 6 Preview is released

Collect, Crunch, Convey, Challenge

CadTempo 6 Preview is released, better, stronger, faster.

 

Since its inception, CadTempo has kept the pulse of your CAD and engineering documents, 3D model creators, drafters and CAD users - perhaps like no other time tracking application available. Whether you use AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Solidworks or a multitude of CAD applications (and even non-CAD applications like Notepad, Excel or Word) CadTempo reports back the amount of hours it takes to create and maintain the drawings and supporting files that are the lifeblood of engineering departments.

 

Now, with CadTempo 6 we’re stepping up our game, so you can too. CadTempo will collect your time investment data, crunch the numbers into usable metrics, and convey the results in numerous charts, graphs, and spreadsheets. Now the challenge for improvement is on you and CadTempo 6 fosters that challenge in an exciting new approach - more on that in future articles.

 

Feast your eyes on these most significant additions in this new release:

 

Active History: Quick, easy chart and spreadsheet listing of most recently worked on files. A dynamic bar graph displays which files have the greatest amount of hours spent. Select a date range, click a button, and done. At the same time a spreadsheet is created listing the files and the amount of time each user spends on the drawings for each day in the selected date range. Click into the desired bar and the selected file will be automatically located in the spreadsheet view.

 

 

Analytics – Applications: Review overall active time spent in all of your applications, production applications and non-production. Each user can be segregated for review or you can examine any grouping of users. In addition to displaying the amount of active time in an application CadTempo gauges the amount of engagement a user is involved with each application. Dynamically sample by week, week to week, or even total hours year to date. Here is a sample bubble graph:

 

 

Analytics – Trend: The trend feature graphs the historical performance that is recorded above. Again each user can be segregated or a group can be examined. You can review all applications, production applications or non-production applications. This can be a very powerful indicator of the value of changes to your system, training, or a number of factors that affect your users motivation and productivity.

Analytics – Orb Trend: The “Orb Trend” is a device that graphs a user’s (or group of users) composite score of several metrics. The Orb can be viewed as a "vessel” that contains the collected metrics. An internal scoring mechanism measures several factors that are based on a user’s performance and displays the progress that is made over a period of time. Like the Trend graph this can be used to gauge the effectiveness of changes that are made to your system.

Timeline: The Timeline displays a graph of user’s work session over a period of time. By selecting the date range a chart is dynamically created that marks a users default expected work session hours and the actual session hours. A separate calendar allows you to record important benchmarks or milestones.

MorphOrb: An odd  name for sure, but it describes the concept behind this new release. The previously mentioned “Analytics-Orb Trend” encapsulates the data that CadTempo collects (the Orb) and presents a graphical overview of users performance metrics. Over time your Orb undergoes a metamorphosis, indicating the direction of a user or group of users productivity, efficiency, or engagement of work. The MorphOrb is intended as a means of comparative analysis among a large group of individuals and organizations that have an interest in determining their strengths or weaknesses based on community historical data. There is much more to this aspect of CadTempo that will be made available in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

To summarize, CadTempo 6 is the ideal tool to Collect, Crunch, and Convey your time data then Challenge you to reach greater productivity through increased motivation and work engagement.

Here is your first challenge: Beat my current score of 39.17

The current download copy of CadTempo 6 is in a state of preview. It is fully functional and is labeled as a preview before the official release.

For a limited time during the preview period you can take advantage of the previous release pricing. The CadTempo pricing and purchase web page include a comparison of present and future pricing.

You can download a fully functional copy of CadTempo here: http://www.cadtempo.com/

Welcome to the CadTempo Blog

Hello and thanks for coming by for a visit.

I hope I can keep this interesting for you as I touch on a subject that I find is not often discussed or covered in my web travels, time - relating to the creation of drawings and engineering documents. I've developed a time logging solution called CadTempo http://www.cadtempo.com to assist in recording the amount of time I spend in performing my job.

Time is frequently referred to as the "fourth dimension" and this concept is certainly valid. In this sense of course the reference pertains to the movement of a three dimesional object as it travels through space. This blog, however, will focus on time as a measurement of work production by users of CAD software such as AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit and other popular 2d and 3d drafting products. I believe this is an important subject, as "time is money" and to understand where your money is being spent you need to know where your time is being spent.


My interest in this subject is framed by my need as a small business owner to have a firm understanding of the cost associated with the job functions performed in my daily activities. I started my business, Engineered Design Solutions http://www.engds.com , in 1991 after developing a machine to manufacture drinking straws based on an idea that I had. My previous employer had recently sent me to CAD training and during the evening hours I designed my machine and created the details for its build.


During my employment I had kept detailed records of the time that was required to complete the design projects that were assigned to me. For the most part, this was time that I had monitored while manually drafting with a drafting board and Vemco drafting machine. After a while I came to establish a consistent measurement of work product. This was manually recorded on paper that documented the number of manufactured details that were designed for the project as well as the number of commercial items that were a part of the final design. In addition to recording the number of components that made up the design I segregated the number of hours involved in design and layout, detailing and checking.

After starting my company, armed with this data as a benchmark I was able to compare CAD drafting to my manual methods and determine improvements that I made to my work environment by means of customization of AutoCAD via AutoLISP programs and modifications to the AutoCAD user interface. In future articles I will share the data I had gathered.