The piece of STEP which actually gets implemented, exchanged, or shared is the Application Protocols. This is an important question. There is an important difference between STEP and most other standards. The difference is that most other standards deal only with particular application areas or particular deliverables or products. STEP is intended to store all data for a product throughout its life-cycle with out regard to discipline or application area.
STEP is an international standard.
This designation gives STEP a distinct advantage over company, industry, and national standards for companies in today's economy. STEP data can be exchanged and shared across international boundaries. This means that products designed in one country could be produced anywhere in the world. STEP is intended to deal with all types of products and all data related to those products. It also forces the integration of product data.