since 2015

The User Group continued its work on common PDM use cases. In particular, the scenarios “Product Configuration“, “Alternate and Substitute Parts“, “Multiple Identifiers and Property Values“ were addressed and test cases were derived as input for the Implementor Group. Detailed test steps were identified and passed on to the Implementor Group together with the use cases for testing.

The Implementor Group continued its work on the three Recommended Practices for STEP AP242 XML, “Product and Assembly Structure“, “Product Configuration“ and “Change Management“, which form the basis for interoperable interfaces to this important process format across all domains.

The extensions in the AP 242 Domain Model required for implementing the use case “Visual Issue Management (VIM)“ were identified and submitted for inclusion in the 3rd edition. A new use case, “Measurement & Characteristics (Promethea),“ was launched and work on it will continue next year.

The User Group will define new use cases, for example “Export Control“ and “Product Configuration based of Specifications (UC3)“, while the Implementor Group will select new test cases from the backlog and validate them in two rounds of testing. Focus in this context will be placed on the current and future challenges posed by the exchange of PDM data. It is also intended that work on multi-disciplinary use cases be launched (as it already has been for Promethea).

Work on developing a validation tool for checking AP242 XML files for accuracy and compliance with the implementation guidelines, which was launched in 2021 by AFNeT, will continue. The PDM IF will supervise the PDM benchmark planned for the end of 2022. It will also continue its longstanding collaboration with other implementor forums and pursue new collaborative ventures.