STEP Tools, Inc. Participates in Aerospace PDE 2003, April 7-10, 2003 in Gaithersburg, Maryland
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Belinda Jones, 860-767-9506
HiTech Marketing LLC
belinda.jones@hitechmarketing.com
Dr. Hardwick Speaks at International Workshop for Aerospace Product Data Exchange
Troy, New York - March 19, 2003 -
STEP Tools, Inc. ,
announced today it will participate in Aerospace PDE 2003, the fifth annual International
Workshop for Aerospace Product Data Exchange, being held on April 7-10, 2003, in Gaithersburg, MD.
The event is being hosted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European
Space Agency (ESA) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Aerospace engineers
and IT professionals will gather at NIST headquarters to join a forum for the discussion of methods
and technology for reliable exchange and long term archival of aerospace product data. Dr.
Martin Hardwick, president and CEO of STEP Tools, will present a paper on "Model Driven Intelligent
Control of Manufacturing" from 10:55am to 11:40am on Monday, April 7, 2003. For more information or
to register, go to
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/new030407.htm.
Dr. Hardwick is the international team leader of the STEP Manufacturing group. His paper
will cover the progress of the international draft standard STEP-NC and focus on the technology's
current and future benefits to the aerospace industry. Over the past three years, STEP Tools has
spearheaded the development of STEP-NC effort in North America, and is a highly visible participant
in the global STEP community of over 200 independent product data specialists.
Dr. Hardwick will present an overall theme of product data integration, based on a full
fidelity STEP-NC model used as direct input to a CNC machine tool. The comprehensive STEP-NC
model can provide the comprehensive data needed for the long term archival needs of the aerospace
industry. The forthcoming international standard will usher in a new era of manufacturing automation
in terms of productivity, safety, reliability, and CNC machine tool usability and interoperability.
About STEP and STEP-NC Standards
STEP (STandard for Exchange of Product model data) is a comprehensive ISO standard for CAD
design data. STEP-NC, the manufacturing extension of this standard, annotates the design
information with manufacturing data. STEP became a full ISO standard in 1994, and since
then, all of the leading CAD software vendors have implemented STEP data translation.
It is estimated that more than one and a half million CAD stations now contain STEP
data translators. STEP-NC is on its way to becoming a Draft International Standard in 2003.
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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