STEP Tools Presents Emerging STEP-NC Manufacturing Standards at Three Industry Events in October 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Belinda Jones, 860-767-9506
HiTech Marketing LLC
belinda.jones@hitechmarketing.com
STEP Tools Participates in AIAG Metrology Interoperability Meeting,
Boeing's Product Data Exchange Conference, and NIST's MEP Technology Webcast
Troy, New York - October 17, 2002 -
STEP Tools, Inc. , the forerunner in developing STEP
and STEP-NC software solutions for the global marketplace, announced today the company will
participate in three major industry events in the month of October 2002. On October 22nd,
Dr. Hardwick, president and CEO, will travel to Southfield, Michigan to participate in the
Metrology Interoperability Project Team Meeting held at the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group)
headquarters. This team works to reduce product development cycle time and manufacturing costs by
achieving interoperability of software and hardware components used in automated metrology.
The group reviews current standards and develops user requirements to provide as input to industry
standards developing organizations like STEP Tools, Inc. STEP (Standard for Product Data Exchange)
is an ISO standard for CAD design data. STEP-NC, the manufacturing extension of this standard, annotates
this design information with manufacturing data.
On October 21 and 22, 2002, Dr. David Loffredo will attend Boeing's 5th Annual Product
Data Exchange Conference held in Huntsville, AL. He will present "Digital Manufacturing using STEP-NC"
during the two-day event. Dr. Loffredo is the Vice President of Product Development at STEP Tools,
and is currently developing the AP-238 integrated STEP-NC model. Since 1988, Loffredo has developed
software that supports the ISO 10303 STEP standard. Dr. Loffredo will discuss how STEP-NC will enable
Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools and drive them with full fidelity 3D design data
derived from any CAD system. He will explain how an external software program like a Process Planning
system or an integrated CAD/CAM system, can create instructions for making a part on a machine tool and
send those instructions (via DNC, LAN, WAN or the Internet) to a CNC milling machine containing an
embedded CAM system.
Earlier in the month, Dr. Martin Hardwick presented "STEP-NC: Machining the Future"
and demonstrated STEP-NC to over 50 participants during a live NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership
(MEP) Webcast. This Webcast was the 7th in a series of "Technology Briefing" web conferences designed to
help communicate knowledge to the MEP network about the latest ideas, strategies and solutions for SMEs
from the world of Information Technology. Dr.Hardwick is the STEP Manufacturing leader in the international
STEP community of over 200 independent product data specialists.
About STEP Tools, Inc.
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 and STEP-NC 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 a suite of software solutions in several languages
that integrate with existing tools and database systems, and also provide cross-platform compatibility
and ease-of-use for streamlined development. The emerging STEP-NC technology is yielding process
improvements including a 35% reduction in path planning time, a 75% reduction in paper drawings
generated for the shop-floor, and a 50% improvement in machining time for small to mid-sized job lots.
For late-breaking information, contact STEP Tools, Inc. by calling (518) 687-2848, email:
info@steptools.com or visit www.steptools.com.
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