So I have recently taken over our IT Department and it has placed me over troubleshooting SW issues. I am pretty ignorant when working with drawing files. The computer that is being used is  Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz, AMD RADEON PRO WX 5100 video card, 32GB  of ram and a Samsung SSD. We haven't had any issues opening any part files or step files before, but recently we have gained a new OEM customer and they are sending us 1.5GB STP. files. The computer listed above can open the 1.5GB step file after a bit of time after maxing out the ram, but after it does, it's very slow to move around and glitchy. It doesn't use many system resources after that. We are working with shipping containers that would be placed in shipping trucks. The shipping containers include Vehicle windshields, bumpers, etc....

My question is. What is best practice with working with a step file this big. Should it be this big in the first place? They did send a 3GB .STP at first that we could not open. Is there a software, or any way I can reduce the file size to make it more easier to manage? I believe the computer is strong enough for our normal engineering use.

Thanks for the help everyone!