Development Partnership Announced Between ProSTEP GmbH and
MacNeal-Schwendler

MUNICH, DARMSTADT, March 1996 - MacNeal-Schwendler GmbH, a subsidiary of
The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (MSC), announced their decision to
develop a STEP interface for their MSC/PATRAN program within the framework
of the ProSTEP P3 project headed by ProSTEP GmbH. Development of the
interface will be based on the ProSTEP Toolkit PSstep_Caselib and will
comply with the Application Protocol 214 (Core Data for Automotive
Mechanical Design Processes) specification. 

"AP 214 is increasingly important to the German Automotive Industry", says
Thomas Grassinger, Product Marketing Manager at MacNeal-Schwendler.
"Involvement with The ProSTEP P3 joint project and participation in the
ProSTEP Round Table will bring many advantages to our developers, not
least in helping to ensure compatibility with existing AP 214 processors.
Furthermore, the toolkit being used, PSstep_Caselib, with its ability to
process any EXPRESS schemata, provides us with maximum flexibility" 

The PSstep_Caselib

PSstep_Caselib is the most frequently used STEP toolkit for developing
standard (ISO 10303) STEP interfaces. Today, almost 80 companies and
institutions world-wide are in the process of developing STEP solutions
with this ProSTEP tool. This total includes 20 of the worlds largest
CAD/CAM system vendors. 

"As The Market Leader for engineering analysis solutions,
MacNeal-Schwendler's decision underlines the success of ProSTEP", says a
delighted Uwe Stelter, Managing Director of Commercial Affairs at ProSTEP
GmbH. "It is important to us that we be seen as a partner to the system
vendor. This is why, with PSstep Caselib we are providing a tool that
makes it possible to develop an executable STEP processor within a short
period of time. At the same time, the Standard Data Access Interface
(SDAI) ensures that the investment made in development can be utilized in
other projects." 

MSC/PATRAN

MSC/PATRAN is an easy-to-use, open MCAE (Mechanical Computer Aided
Engineering) environment for simulating product performance and
manufacturing processes.

In conjunction with integrated engineering analysis programs, MSC/PATRAN
allows the user to examine the behavior of designs very early in the
development process. The integration of new STEP processors will increase
the already extensive geometry handling capabilities of the program. Once
the design geometry has been either created or imported from a CAD system,
users are able to build an analytical finite element (FEA) model. Direct
access to the material information system MSC/MVISION, enables the user to
access a large materials data resource with a known high quality pedigree.
The analysis process can now be started using the MSC/PATRAN Analysis
Manager. 

The powerful results visualization tools of MSC/PATRAN enable the user to
identity critical information including minimums, maximums, trends, and
correlations. Isosurfaces and other advanced visualization tools help
speed and improve results evaluation. Tools are also available to help
correlate the analysis results with test results. In addition to the fully
integrated analysis systems from MacNeal-Schwendler (including
MSC/NASTRAN, MSC/DYTRAN, and MSC/FATIGUE), integrated interfaces are
provided for the following analysis programs: ABAQUS, ANSYS, CFDS-F3D,
LS-DYNA3D, MARC, PAM-CRASH and SAMCEF. 

MSC/PATRAN is based on the UNIX, Motif and X-Windows standards and is
available on most workstations. With a completely menu-driven graphical
interface and online help, MSC/PATRAN represents the industry's most
advanced and easy-to-use pre and postprocessing solution. 

MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation

MSC, The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (AMEX:MNS) is the leading supplier
of CAE software used by engineers throughout the world to analyze the
performance of their designs without the need for time-consuming and
expensive physical prototypes. MSC's family of products, MSC/NASTRAN,
MSC/PATRAN, MSC/ARIES, MSC/EMAS, MSC/MVISION, MSC/FEA, and MSC/DYTRAN,
have played a role in the design of virtually every major automobile,
aircraft and space vehicle developed in the past decade. MSC products are
marketed and supported throughout offices in the United States, Europe and
the Far East. For more information on MSC, visit Internet Web Site
http://www.macsch.com. 

STEP Application Protocol 214

AP 214 (Core Data for Automotive Mechanical Design Processes) is part of
the STEP standard (ISO 104303) and describes the mechanical product data
in the process chains of the manufacturing industry. Its functional scope
greatly exceeds that of the previous relevant product data in the
manufacturing industry. AP 214 was initiated in 1991 by the German
automotive industry under the auspices of the VDA. In August 1995, the
specification had achieved Committee Draft (CD) status. This means that
there is a stable implementation base for STEP processors with regard to
geometry information, including solids. The standard as a whole will be
completed in 1997. 

Leading system vendors are already in the process of developing AP 214
processors. Eight of these vendors have already released products that
include the first partial scope (geometry) onto the market. In the
automobile industry, these STEP interface processors are already being
used for exchanging geometry models in the first productive projects. The
next level of implementation will involve drawing data and tolerance
information. 

The ProSTEP Round Table

The ProSTEP Round Table was set up by the ProSTEP Association for the
advancement of system vendors and users who are working together to reach
an agreement on the next implementation level for AP 214. Another
important aspect of the Round Table is coordinating the implementations of
the 16 participating representatives of system vendors with the aim of
avoiding interpretative differences in the implementations. Compatibility
tests are performed in order to ensure the exchangeability of product data
between the various systems. Not only the beta versions, but also the
released products are coordinated and checked. 

ProSTEP GmbH

The ProSTEP Produktdatentechnologie (product data technology) GmbH is
active on all three levels of product data technology.

On the standardization level, ProSTEP is heavily involved in standards
development for the STEP Application Protocol 214 (Core Data for
Automotive Mechanical Design Processes) and Application Protocol 212
(Electrotechnical Design and Installation). This work is carried out at
ISO level with the aim of solving the problems involved in the areas of
data exchange and data management using vendor-neutral descriptions. 

On the second level, ProSTEP offers products and services such as the
PSstep Caselib, AP 214-ACIS Husk, IGES-STEP, VDAFS-STEP migrators and
support services for developers with the aim of making high-quality STEP
interface processors available on the market as quickly as possible. 

On the third level, ProSTEP provides end users with solutions for
automating the data exchange process, viewers, adapters and quality
assurance tools. ProSTEP is also working on solutions to problems
involving IGES and VDAFS at this level. The company is also very
successful in the area of data exchange highway installation, offering not
only the above-mentioned products but also their specialized know-how.
ProSTEP is the only company world-wide following this 3-level strategy,
contributing to the optimization of the data flow in the process chains of
the manufacturing industry by implementing practical solutions. 

About IDA and ProSTEP

IGES Data Analysis, Inc. (IDA) is the official United States distributor
for ProSTEP's PSstep_Caselib, IGES to STEP converter and the VDAFS to STEP
converter. Established in 1984, IDA specializes in the sharing, access and
exchange of digital product data using national and international product
data standards. Our focus is on the effective utilization of product data
used in the CAD/CAM/CAE manufacturing and data management systems. 

Editor Contacts (International):
Uwe Stelter
ProSTEP Produktdatentechnologie GmbH
Julius-Reiber-Str. 15
64293 Darmstadt, Germany
Tel. ++ (49) 61 51 / 92 87 15
Fax. ++ (49) 61 51 / 92 87 26

Thomas Grassinger
MacNeal-Schwendler GmbH
Innsbrucker Ring 15
81612 Munchen, Germany
Tel. ++ (49) 89 / 43 19 87 0
Fax. ++ (49) 89 / 43 61 71 6

IGES Data Analysis, Inc.
2001 N. Janice Avenue
Melrose Park IL 60160 USA
(708)-344-1815,  Fax/(708)-344-2840
 
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