And as someone who works in CAD/CAM/robotics software, these issues apply to robotic coordinate systems, too: World coordinates, joint coordinates, polar coordinates (not the same as high-latitude GIS coordinates, think angle + distance instead of X and Y), tool coordinates, tool offsets, work offsets - all of those are just vectors of 3-6 numbers. Instead of esoteric international standards, and huge modern software packages, we have a lot of old machines, a lot of old code, and a lot more tendency towards 80s-style strategies: Post a sign stating "Do not dumb here!" and leave it all up to the operator to get it right.

There's nothing like telling your 6-figure CNC or multi-axis robot to make a piece of carbide occupy some space where you currently have precision-ground hardened steel because someone left a G92 somewhere you didn't expect it to be. Though I suppose that errors can be at least that expensive in GIS if you're quoting civil engineering or real estate...