IN AN ATTEMPT TO HARNESS THE COLLECTIVE POWER OF THE VARIOUS MDA SYSTEMS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, THE LINKING OR DATA EXCHANGE AND SHARING BETWEEN THEM HAS BECOME A MAJOR ISSUE. A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO THE DATA EXCHANGE PROBLEM EXIST RANGING FROM SINGLE VENDOR INTEGRATED APPLICATIONS TO DIRECT CUSTOM INTERFACES TO THE USE OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS. WHILE SINGLE VENDOR SOLUTIONS AND CUSTOM INTERFACES CAN FOR THE MOST PART, ADDRESS THE DATA EXCHANGE NEED, THERE IS OFTEN A PRICE TO PAY. ALTERNATIVELY, THE INTELLIGENT USE OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS CAN OVERCOME THE DATA EXCHANGE PROBLEM WITH A MORE EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FROM A COST AND COVERAGE STANDPOINT. THIS PAPER TAKES A LOOK AT THE USE OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS SUCH AS IGES, SET, VDA, AND PDES/STEP, AS EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR LINKING MDA APPLICATIONS.