12 April 2018

With the advancement of its key target data format standards, most of all STEP AP242 Edition 2, the LOTAR International project will conclude its recent development phase and move on to new topics in a variety of domains. For the planned extension of LOTAR towards long-term archiving and retrieval of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) data, the project members will provide their feedback during a two-months ballot phase, with a decision to launch or not the new workgroup in June. The PDM WG has restarted, based on the progress of harmonization between AP242 Ed.2 and AP239 Ed.3. The interaction with the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group aims at intensifying the communication of business requirements between users, implementors, standardization bodies, and regulatory authorities such as EASA and FAA. The Engineering Analysis and Simulation team has reached an agreement with NAFEMS to mutually benefit from expertise related to CAE and long-term archiving with AP209 Ed.2. With the near-term availability of AP242 Ed.2 as Draft International Standard, the Electric Harness group will support the launch of an implementor forum in this domain, as part of the CAx-IF, based on pilot projects conducted to support the development of the data model.