STEP AP242 – The Automotive/Aerospace Application Protocol of the Future

In cooperation with the international bodies PDES, Inc., JAMA, AIA, ASD-SSG, GALIA, and NIST and representatives of industry such as EADS, BoostAero, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Rockwell Collins the two application protocols AP 203 and AP 214 are to be combined under the designation STEP AP 242.

The objective is to develop a common application protocol for the automobile and aerospace industry. Bundling the activities allows reacting faster industrial requirements. In addition, AP 242 will open up possibilities of integrating technologies like UML (Unified Modeling Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) and lowering the costs for standard maintenance. With AP 242 STEP will become the backbone for data exchange, data-sharing, visualization, and long-term archiving.

The AP242 project is jointly coordinated by PDES, Inc. and the ProSTEP iViP Association and supported by the standardization committees ASD-STAN and AIA. The kick-off meeting was held on July 1st, 2010. The technical development should be completed by the end of 2011. The release as ISO Standard is planned for 2012.

About the ProSTEP iViP Association

The ProSTEP iViP Association is an international branch-specific community comprising leading companies in the automotive and aerospace industries, system vendors and research institutes. The aim of the ProSTEP iViP Association is to find solutions for the challenges facing the manufacturing industry as a result of networked collaboration in a worldwide development network.

The ProSTEP iViP Association is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, and was founded in October 1993 by 38 industrial companies and a number of system vendors as part of the German STEP initiative. Members of the ProSTEP iViP Association currently include about 200 companies and organizations from 17 nations.

Aerospace Industries Association (AIA)

The US Aerospace Industries Association represents the leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, materiel, and related components, equipment, services, and information technology. AIA establishes industry goals and strategies, achieving consensus among its members and national and global stakeholders and implementing solutions to industry-wide issues related to national and homeland security, civil aviation, and space. AIA develops and publishes NAS standards in cooperation with its member companies.

ASD-Strategic Standardization Group (SSG)

ASD-STAN is the European industrial organization entitled by CEN, the European Standards Committee implemented by the European Commission, as sole provider of European Aerospace Standards. Based upon the principles of openness, transparency and consensus, ASD-STAN develops and publishes prEN standards which subsequently, in cooperation with CEN and its 30 member states community, are transformed into EN standards.

A coherent set of e-business standards is being identified, assessed, developed and implemented in answer to European Aerospace, Space & Defense Industry needs. ASD has responded through the creation of the Strategic Standardization Group (SSG).

PDES, Inc.

PDES, Inc. is an international industry/government/academia consortium committed to accelerating the development and implementation of standards that enable enterprise integration and Product Lifecycle Management interoperability. Its members represent leading manufacturer, U.S. governmental agencies, software vendors, universities, and research organizations. PDES Inc, supports the Digital Enterprise through the development and implementation of information standards to support Model-Based Definition, Model-Based Enterprise, Model –Based Manufacturing, and Model-Based Sustainment. Testing of implementations and data exchange using standards is an integral part of PDES Inc. activities.