Scope of the proposed deliverable The proposed new Standard Format “xMCF” (stands for Extended Master Connection File) aims at fully describing all types of joints or connections within a complex structure in a neutral way. Initial motivation for this project has come from the automotive industry but it is not limited to it and can be used in any other industries (e.g. Aeronautical) as well. The description is based on the well-established xml language in order to maximize compatibility. In order to characterize or describe an individual joint completely, various attributes like geometrical data, process data, material data (e.g. strength properties) etc are required. The xMCF standard allows to describe all of these attributes for all known connection types in a neutral way. Neutral means in this context tool and function independent. The standardized file format allows to efficiently and seamlessly exchange joining data between different virtual tools during various phases of the product development incl manufacturing (CAD, CAE, CAM). There is no need for tailored data translation or conversion. The xMCF standard is expected to have a similar kind of function for joining data in the PLM data flow as the STEP format has for CAD (geometric models) data (ISO 10303).