I 'd like to pose an open question to all forum members. 

I am conducting a survey of Cad software in terms of a university project and I would to ask the forum members who care to reply, in their expertise what deficiencies or limitations would they think Cad software suffers from. I come from a construction industry background.

It could maybe be features that are considered beyond the scope of Cad, or that may not have been implemented well. It could also be some requested features that have not gained enough traction to appear in Cad or some that are only available by user add ons. 

Some areas of issue might be the interoperability of files and user interface, or the input mechanisms of the software. For example with multi touch gaining ground, how is the traditional keyboard limiting or complicating the user experience. I would think the user interface would be a major gripe for some people. Here are some points I have come across in my research:

- How suitable is Cad software in the early design stages as opposed to the information production stage?
- How well established is a model based approach and how far has it come in integrating with cost and performance analysis software? 
- How well does Cad actually improve the actual design process and opposed to offering merely a set of tools.

If anyone feels they can spare the time, I would really like to hear from you.

Wow man, thats alot of work. Seems like you need to ask some old heads to think back to their days workin on board drawings with pencil and eraser in hand.

Tons of work! Back in the 60's I did a lot of board work.
My eraser was 110 volts, hanging off the edge of the board with a cup hook.
 
My ex neighbor in Perkasie asked me if I wanted his used board.
Nice, big, all the bells 'n whistles. I turned the offer down.
 
The only artifact I have left is the board brush, just for memories.
 
If I need full size prints, I email the *.dwg to Richter's in Souderton.
Very inexpensive and the prints are usually same day or the next day ready for me to pickup.

One issue with CAD, when compared to drawing on the board, is its precision.  We can draw more precisely than we can build.  So CAD is limited to real life application because it is so powerful.  I have run into this in several industries and it is always an issue.  If the CAD drafter doesn't take into account real world conditions, the drawing may not work.

Thanks ya all for the replies.
[QUOTE=bcbenton]One issue with CAD, when compared to drawing on the board, is its precision.  We can draw more precisely than we can build.  So CAD is limited to real life application because it is so powerful.  I have run into this in several industries and it is always an issue.  If the CAD drafter doesn't take into account real world conditions, the drawing may not work.[/QUOTE]
Very interesting point, but I don't know I fully grasp it, do you think when you feel like it you can elaborate on this a bit? Would that be in issue say in building construction, what do you mean that we draw more precisely than we built?

As in theres no machine that can hold a tolerance beyond @4 decimal places. And if you have interworking parts, like...a car...that tolerance increases or grows larger to account for material expansion caused by friction...; literally hundreds of varibles account for a tolerance being increased or decreased. Simply put, you cant hold a tolerance much beyond 1mil or 0.001". So all those other decimals are just there to make us designers feel good inside. And so when mirroring and mating parts in virtual space things match or line up. Keyword being 'virtual', not 'actual' or physically fabricated.

If we're talking 'bout tolerance, exact drawings, this would help keep the accumulative tolerance low (or within limits).
 
One item might be .250"�.002", BIG stuff might be �1.0" or more. Like some of the BIG storage tanks I might be designing at the time. I might dimension a BIG item, 15'-0" � 1.5". A small gear might be dimensioned 1.000"� � .002".
 
I've worked on machinery that had literally hundreds of gears and rollers.
Imagine if each and every part went to the max tolerance?
 
The accuracy required depends on what you're designing.
 
In the steel industry the saying was, "Get to work, we're not building watches!" Tankman2010-04-07 05:02:27

thanks to everyone who's chimed in, your insight has been invaluable.