Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Manufacturing Engineering Volume 2013, Article ID 974759, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/974759 Research Article Developing a STEP-Compliant Multiagent on an Interoperable and Integrated CAD/CAM Platform Alireza Mokhtar 1 and Omid Fatahi Valilai 2 1 Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Shiraz University of Technology, Modarres Boulevard, Shiraz 7155713876, Iran 2 Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Avenue, Tehran 113659414, Iran Correspondence should be addressed to Alireza Mokhtar; mokhtar@gmail.com Received 10 March 2013; Accepted 21 October 2013 Academic Editors: K. Case, J.-Y. Hascoet, and A. K. Kamrani Copyright © 2013 A. Mokhtar and O. Fatahi Valilai. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Practical implementation of a STEP-based architecture to provide a fully integrated and interoperable platform of data exchange has always been an intriguing issue. A variety of CAD/CAM environments are struggling to embed and support STEP standard and its protocols in order to seamlessly operate within global data exchange. However, apparent paucity of eicient and reliable structure for data communication, manipulation, and restoration has remarkably hindered the desired progress. In this paper, taking these shortcomings into account, a practical architecture is introduced and STEP-based agents are implemented and installed on the platform. Moreover, feature recognition, interaction, and machining precedence as crucial issues of CAD/CAM research have been considered in developing the interoperable platform. Seamless integration and interaction of CAD/CAM modules are provided in the proposed system. he prototype is inally veriied and discussed through a case study. 1. Introduction Since more than a decade ago, interoperability and integra- tion in CAD/CAM environment, have been notably investi- gated. Quick and faultless data communications throughout product and process development are becoming imperative day to day. his is mainly due to disseminating vendors and complex-structured organizations of design and manufactur- ing. Needless to say, promising progress in developing neu- tral standards and their pertinent extensions within recent years are construed as driving wheels for the integration vehicle. Neutral standards do not ordinarily depend on any proprietary application or platform. hey are mostly easy to be dealt with, manipulated, and interpreted while having a potent structure to entirely capture product-lifecycle data. Loosely claiming, future generations of product data man- agement (PDM) must be neutral format-compliant in order to fully achieve interoperability [1, 2]. STEP (the Standard for Exchange of Product data) has played an underlying role in implementation of CAD/CAM integrated systems [3]. Taking STEP’s numerous advantages into account and relying on its unique capabilities, this research proposes an integrated CAD/CAM architecture to provide the organizations with an interoperable platform of data exchange. STEP-compliant agents are then installed on the platform and a system which beneits the merits of the developed platforms is designed and implemented. Feature recognition, interaction, and machining precedence are some crucial issues that are particularly dealt with through developing the proposed pro- totype. his achievement assures integration, interoperability, and data management and entails design, process planning, and manufacturing up to CNC machining. In the following sections, the relevant attempts to utilize STEP in CAD/CAM integration are discussed and a proper platform is introduced. Conforming CAD/CAM agents are then deined and a prototype is implemented to represent the realized integration and interoperability. Eventually, this achievement is validated by design and test of a case study. 2. STEP-Based Interoperable and Integrated CAD/CAM System Sotware solutions that facilitate distributed product design and manufacturing are becoming more important in prod- uct development processes [4, 5]. Diferent solutions and