Troy, New York-February 15, 2000 - STEP Tools, Inc., the forerunner in developing STEP-integration software toolsets for the global marketplace, today announced that Atlanta-based ManufacturingQuote.com llc (www.mfgquote.com) has set up a direct web link to STEP Tools' Free Online Translation Service, a component of their STEP Repository web-based data management product. MfgQuote.com is a new Internet service designed to serve as the Web-based marketplace connecting job shops with companies purchasing custom manufacturing services such as precision CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication and rapid prototyping. To date, over 8,000 STEP translations have transpired at STEP Tools Free Translation Service. As recorded in January 2000, over 400 translations took place in the first month of the millennium. Users can translate CAD files to STEP, Parasolid XT, ACIS-SAT, XML, as well as graphic file formats such as JPG, GIF and VRML.
"With 32 CAD programs in the marketplace today, STEP Tools translation service was the ideal link for MfgQuote.com," states Mitch Free, president of ManufacturingQuote.com. "Data compatibility is a huge concern for manufacturers, and STEP's free service is a giant step in the right direction for our industrial marketplace."
"The momentum for the STEP data standard is reaching new heights in the United States," stated Dr. Martin Hardwick, president of STEP Tools. "We are extremely pleased that innovative firms such as ManufacturingQuote.com recognize our free translation service as an important value-added service for its manufacturing-oriented members. The STEP translation service is managed by our STEP Repository solution, which adds a new level of security for storing partfiles. Users can be given a password protected area where they can store their files before or after a translation."