EVOLUTION OF STEP (ESTEP): AN INTERIM REPORT ON THE EXCHANGE OF SHIPBUILDING PRODUCT MODEL DATA USING STEP

Evolution of STEP (ESTEP) is a task within the NSRP ASE Integrated Shipbuilding Environment (ISE) project building upon the work of the MariSTEP consortium and the NIDDESC standards development efforts. The ESTEP Project began in 1999 and will conclude in 2003. The purpose of ESTEP is to validate product model standards for the shipbuilding industry, implement product model data translators, and to further the development of shipbuilding application protocols. Three of the major goals of ESTEP are developing a production-quality piping data exchange capability, expanding shipbuilding structure implementation efforts, and the exchange of parts and part libraries. This paper will focus on the accomplishments during the first phases of the project.