I have been doing CAD work for over 20 years (3D for about 15) I have been in industries from custom automation to the packaging machine industry (shrinkwrap, stretchwrap, cartoners, heat tunnels, conveyor systems). I have designed complete machines, and also I have designed the case for both the Pandora "open source" handheld and the iControlpad phone gaming attachment. My experience is in sheet metal, plastics, and machined parts. I can use history based modelers like Inventor etc. but tend to prefer the direct modelers such as KeyCreator currently. I have a valid license for AutoCAD and KeyCreator. Multiple output formats aren't an issue. I can export (and import) in almost any format such as SolidWorks, Inventor, Catia, NX, and of course STEP, SAT, IGES, AutoCAD DWG, DXF. In addition to new things, "dumb solid" editing from a single part to an entire machine is no problem for me to edit directly.