As industry moves toward model-based manufacturing, inspection, and integrated digital quality workflows, engineering data must convey not only geometry but also machine-readable operational and quality semantics.
Elysium and Lockheed Martin have published a new technical whitepaper exploring how STEP AP242 Edition 4 can support the digital thread across CAD, manufacturing, and inspection through Operational Features (OFs), Characteristics (CRs), and persistent identification.
The whitepaper addresses the semantic gap between CAD geometry and the operational features used in downstream manufacturing and inspection workflows.
Key Topics
- Operational Features and Characteristics — Approaches for representing manufacturing and inspection features and their associated quality requirements in STEP AP242 Edition 4.
- Persistent IDs and Digital Thread — How UUID-based identification can improve traceability across engineering and downstream systems.
- Challenges and Future Directions — Current gaps in STEP-based representation and opportunities for closer alignment with QIF and Model-Based Characteristics (MBC).
For proposed representation methods, implementation considerations, and future standardization directions, read the full whitepaper.