Development of a STEP based information model for a casting process

The standard for the exchange of product model data (STEP) is an effort geared towards facilitating the computer-readable exchange of the total information used to define an industrial product. STEP is being released as a set of inter-related parts. Application protocols, the 200-series parts, describe the use of integrated resources satisfying the scope and information requirements for a specific application context. A proposal exists to develop an application protocol for the casting industry. This proposal is currently in abeyance and the effort required to complete it should be enormous. This paper attempts to make an analysis of the expected effort by studying a casting process. The steps required to develop a prototype information model that will capture all product data about one costing process are attempted. The problems related to product data representation and exchange are introduced with an overview of STEP. The casting industry is briefly addressed. The proposed approach in independent development of an application protocol is thoroughly analyzed, including development of a DBMS using NIAM methodology, an interface language to link DBMS to different computer systems via a neutral file exchange format, and EXPRESS. Problems and contributions of the approach are discussed