Last year I got hired to do structural steel designs for a company that builds sub-stations. Before me the company bought these designs from an external design office. Now I am doing these designs. The design work itself is not the problem, but I don’t know how to organize my work. I had to start at zero, we do not have a PDM system or any other supporting software, that helps with version control, item numbering or such things. I am storing all files on my one-drive which works for now, since I am the only designer, but it is not a solution for the future. And the biggest problem is maintaining PDF files of my structures. I have to manually maintain PDF´s for all structures, in case of a change in the design, without any revision tracking or similar. And I do not have a “where used” function. There is so much room for mistakes… 

I am looking for help, I do not know what to get and in what to invest. A PDM system, or maybe a software like CustomWorks or some kind of ERP system? I was in contact with companies, hoping for advice, but sure they just try to sell their product. Is there some independent help, maybe directly from SolidWorks? Or who can I contact, to get help? Any Ideas?