Bob,

I completely agree!  For efficiency's sake, that would be the best way.  But there are problems.  Few PCB CAD library designers have the knowledge to do that correctly, so the tweaking happens on every build anyway.   Sending the same assembly to different asssmbly vendors means that each may prefer their own answer to the stencil design.  Some footprints could be universally pasted, some may be process specific.  That gives you a library and gerebr files that may or may not be complete, and can change from design to design.  Tracking and communicating that leads to possible errors.

I've had vendors in the past who wanted my gerbers to be modified when they get them.  For the most part, they have preferred to do it themselves. 

Pete

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