JT has become a widely used format for product visualization during the product development process. The ProSTEP iViP Association and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) have launched three JT-related projects in succession which are being coordinated with each other: the ProSTEP iViP / VDA JT Workflow Forum, the ProSTEP iViP/VDA JT Application Benchmark and the ProSTEP iViP/VDA JT Implementor Forum. In August 2010, the ProSTEP iViP Association submitted the latest JT specification (version 9.5) to the International Standardization Organization (ISO) for standardization. 14 December 2012 JT 9.5 was published as ISO Standard ISO 14306:2012.

As the latest in a row of three benchmarks, the JT Application Benchmark was carried out in 2012 to achieve an independent evaluation of the progress being made with regard to the development of JT translators and viewing applications. For the first time, the focus is not only on the translators, but also on viewing applications. The object of the testing was JT 9.5 (ISO 14306:2012). The benchmark was managed by the JT Workflow Forum and JT Implementor Forum. Because the benchmark involved an independent activity, it was financed directly by the two organizations, the ProSTEP iViP Association and the VDA, and not by the participating companies whose products were being tested. The aim was to create a neutral comparison of currently available JT applications with regard to selected test criteria. This means that the results of the benchmark can not only be used to evaluate the application of JT in PLM environments but also for improvement of the interoperability of the applications.

As such applications are undergoing a permanent development; the Benchmark can only give a snapshot of the functions and qualities of the applications.

Additionally, the interoperability between JT and the STEP AP 242 XML scheme was tested by the vendors organized in the JT Implementor Forum. STEP AP 242 is still under development, but the intention was to gather first feedbacks. Thus, first results of these tests are also published within this documentation.