NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL) in Pasadena, CA, has incorporated STEP-NC technology into their manufacturing operations as a member of the STEP-NC Phase One Implementation program. A compilation of STEP Tools software, including ST-NC (stores a catalog of STEP-NC information), ST-Plan (converts STEP information into STEP-NC information), and ST-Machine (reads STEP-NC information and converts that information into a manufacturing plan for the GibbsCAM and Mastercam systems) will be used to enable integration.

JPL will initiate the program and execute the project in systematic phases within their manufacturing operations. Eventually, JPL will expand the knowledge into their supply chain of qualified contract manufacturers. During this process, JPL also will STEP-NC-enable a few computerized numerical control (CNC) machine tools and driven them with 3D design data derived from a CAD system.

STEP-NC extends the Standard for Product Data Exchange (STEP), which was developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) for CAD design data, to the manufacturing environment. STEP-NC defines data as "working steps," or a library of specific operations that can be performed on a CNC machine tool. Using this technology, an external software program such as a an integrated CAD/CAM system can send instructions to a CNC milling machine that contains an embedded CAM system via Direct Numerical Control (DNC), LAN, WAN, or the Internet.