CAD users survey

, the online community and discussion forum for UK design and manufacturing businesses, has launched a comprehensive survey into UK CAD usage and its impact on daily working life.

The survey will examine a range of design and manufacturing business issues, including how much time CAD users spend designing, which other administrative or management tasks they also have to perform and how they might achieve greater job satisfaction.

Ben Bush, director of DesignTalks said: ‘Advances in CAD technology have enabled designers to speed up their product development processes, which should allow time for taking on more design projects.

‘But the increasing pressure to reduce product development times and become more competitive means designers may be having to fit design work between increasing amounts of administrative, process and management tasks.

‘The DesignTalks survey should shed some interesting light onto this issue and give us a clearer picture of where the balance currently lies.’

Participants in the survey, which is open to all UK designers and manufacturers, will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three VEXplorer remote control robot kits and a 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator. Seven runners-up will also receive a SpaceNavigator. The VEXplorer comes with the SolidWorks Student Design Kit.