The STEP project was initiated in 1984 by the ISO (International Standards Organization). The objectives were:
For further details, we suggest an article by Julian Fowler called Extract from STEP for Data Management, Exchange and Sharing.
By contrast,, the computer applications, operating systems, and hardware used to access this product information has a lifetime of 3 to 5 years (or less). Thus, it will be necessary to migrate product data to new generations of hardware and software several times during the life of the enterprise.
The objective of STEP is to provide a product data standard which is independant of any proprietary formats. This standard may be used during the design phases to transfer information between different computer systems and organizations (e.g. different engineering and construction contractors). During the operations phases, the standard will facilitate management of design, manufacturing and operations data from startup until decommissioning. Finally, for certain regulated industries, it may also be required to maintain and access this information in archives for many years thereafter.
Jim Nell at NIST maintains a 2-page summary of all STEP standards and their status. Print this on both sides of a single page and keep it as a handy reference.
The following groups are developing Step Standards: