Mass producing something as large and complex as a passenger airliner or a military aircraft requires data, and lots of it. Just keeping track of the more than 100,000 parts and services needed to put a large modern aircraft together would be overwhelming without the help of computers.

NIST pioneered the development of a super standard-a universal language for exchanging electronic data about products. Known as STEP, the standard helps save time and money by allowing manufacturers and suppliers to easily exchange detailed information about product designs, dimensions, and other characteristics.