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STEP Tools, Inc. Wins $750,000 Phase Two SBIR Grant from U.S. Naval
Sea Systems Command
STEP Tools to Implement Web-based Smart Modeling Environment
with ST-Repository
Troy, New York - July 26, 2001-STEP Tools, Inc., the forerunner
in developing STEP-integration software toolsets for the global marketplace,
announced today its has received a $750,000 Phase Two DoD SBIR (Department
of Defense Small Business Innovation Research) Grant from the U.S. Naval
Sea Systems Command. STEP Tools received a Phase One award in January
2000 to fund the testing of scientific and technical merits of a "Web-based
Smart Modeling Environment or WSME", a proposed DoD concept. With
Phase Two funding, STEP Tools will further develop the WSME concept to
a next-generation environment for sharing ship design and manufacturing
data. "We are very pleased to be moving into the action phase of this
project," states Dr. Martin Hardwick, president and CEO of STEP Tools.
"It is exciting to play such a pivot role in developing a Web-powered
technology that will ultimately enable the Navy to design new ships more
quickly, more productively at a much lower cost." The Department of Defense SBIR program is the largest source of early
stage "research and development" funding available in the United
States for small, high tech companies. All projects serve a Department
of Defense need, and have commercialization potential in both military
and commercial markets. STEP Tools retains the intellectual property rights
for their innovations. ST-Repository and Web-based Smart Model Environment To Meet Multi-faceted
Needs of Shipbuilding The WSME project will be implemented using ST-Repository Release 2.0,
a STEP Database Management software product, developed by STEP Tools to
help companies manage and document design-through-manufacturing processes
based on the STEP (Standard for Product Data Exchange) international data
format. ST-Repository incorporates emerging Today, most STEP applications read or write complete data sets into data
exchange files. In contrast, applications in the Web-based Smart Model
Environment will have the alternative of reading and writing to sections
of a data exchange file or database. The WSME will include data viewing
and management "applets" for the shipbuilding industry including
the ship arrangement protocol, the ship molded forms protocol, the ship
structures protocol, and the piping protocol. Most importantly, the WSME will make it easier to build application programs that use large, comprehensive data models required by shipbuilding, because the programmer will only have to understand a certain section of the data model. By making STEP programming easier, the WSME will make it easier for shipbuilders to realize the productivity gains of STEP, which are estimated to save about $8M for a mid-sized boat. Other benefits include a 75% reduction in CAD to CAM communication costs, a 35% reduction in CAM programming costs, and a 50% decrease in CNC machining time.
STEP Tools, Inc. is a leading international supplier of professional
STEP software toolsets (based on ISO standards) for application software
developers, design firms and manufacturing companies in diverse industries.
The STEP Tools product line is used by the world's foremost firms to leverage
STEP technology to facilitate the sharing of engineering product information.
Over one million end users utilize product data applications built with
ST-Developer, the company's flagship product. The company offers ten software
solutions in several languages that provide four key benefits: 1) the
flexibility of EXPRESS information modeling language, 2) integration with
existing tools and database systems, 3) cross-platform portability, and
4) ease-of-use for streamlined development. For late-breaking information,
contact STEP Tools, Inc. by calling (518) 687-2848, email: info@steptools.com
or visit STEP Tools Web Site: www.steptools.com. |