The automotive industry as a key user group for CAD systems, recognizing product data representation and exchange as a matter of high strategic importance for the future, has made tremendous efforts to create an international standard for automotive design data, the STEP AP214 (ISO 10303).

Under the motto ”creating quality instead of checking quality”, the ProSTEP Association is pursuing a concept of performing quality assurance for STEP implementations in parallel with their development phase. The ProSTEP Benchmark provides CAD system vendors with an opportunity to measure the quality of their STEP processors against the requirements of the user as they relate to day–to–day usage.

The goal of the Benchmark is to examine the compatibility and scope of the implementation of the available STEP products. The increasing number of new participants is the result of the intensive activities in the CAx Implementor Forum. The 7th Benchmark, particularly evaluated capabilities for product data exchange with respect to geometry and more detail processor handling. The new topics validation properties and 3D-text annotation tested for the first time in the last Stability Benchmark were updated. Because of the participation of two new STEP translators the exchange of assemblies were tested again.

The 7th Benchmark was performed using the STEP translators that were available by the end of June 2001. The translators were used once more in their DIS (Draft International Standard) versions. Next year the translators will become IS (International Standard).

At this point we would like to thank all the participating system vendors whose kind donations of hardware and software made the Benchmark possible. All the same we appreciate the effort of the vendors providing the appropriate geometry test cases.