2000-08-23

10,000 STEP Data Translations Conducted Online at www.steptools.com

Troy, New York - August 23, 2000 - STEP Tools, Inc., the forerunner in developing STEP-integration software toolsets for the global marketplace, today announced landmark usage of its free online Data Translation Service, officially reaching 10,000 STEP data translations on Friday, August 18th, 2000. Although ASP (Application Service Provider) models have gained recent media attention, STEP Tools was among the first few companies to introduce an online interactive application in January 1995. The free-of-charge STEP translation program has served to raise awareness of the emerging international standard STEP (Standard for Product Data Exchange) in the manufacturing sector.

With burgeoning momentum, STEP translation traffic has grown by 150% in the past year and breaks another historic record for STEP Tools. The STEP online translator is also an integral part of STEP Tools product data management (PDM) solutions. These greatly reduce the complexity involved in managing engineering data using the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Clients can utilize these World Wide Web services for sharing product data with internal and external customers and suppliers. End users have the capacity to translate and observe virtually any CAD model in any file format. CAD users can explore a variety of translation options at STEP Tools Web site at: www.steptools.com/translate. The STEP Tools Online Translation service also includes popular graphic data formats and allows users to directly upload files without using FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

STEP Tools' integrated suite of tools and libraries covers every aspect of STEP implementation and drastically minimizes the effort needed to move applications and databases into compliance with ISO 10303 STEP (Standard for Product Data Exchange) and other standards that use EXPRESS information models.

With over one million end-users of STEP translators and the STEP file format, this international data standard describes and reliably transports 3D model content worldwide.