Challenges to the National Information Infrastructure: The Barriers to ProductData Sharing. National PDES Testbed Report Series

摘要

Industry has a need to share data among functions within its own enterprise andamong its suppliers and partners. A standard specification for manufacturing data is needed that can support the entire product development and support life-cycle. The emerging international standard called the Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) is addressing this need by specifying what data is needed within industrial application areas, how it should be represented, and how it should be exchanged. The Application Protocol Development Environment (APDE) is a software project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed to facilitate the development, acceptance, and use of STEP. The paper discusses the status of STEP, barriers to the development, acceptance, and use of STEP, and the benefits of using STEP in industry. Aspects of the APDE project are also discussed including current status, lans for a STEP information base, use of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) for facilitating the information base, barriers to the project, and expected benefits for STEP.