The
What, Why, and How of Standards*
The inch is a standard of measurement.
Money is a standard of exchange.
Words are standards of communication.
Traffic lights are safety standards.
Octane numbers of gasoline are
quality standards.
"No more than 1% shrinkage"
is a performance standard.
Standardization has a
major impact on our lives, yet most people know little about the process
or about the standards themselves. They know that camera film marked
"ISO 100" is likely to give good results in a camera with the film speed
set at 100. But few understand that the ISO 100 marking on the package
means that the film conforms to a standard established by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), an international organization that
writes standards.
Few people question that
their ATM card works at every money machine in the world, but this confidence
could not be possible without standards. While driving we are on
the lookout for hexagonal, not round or square-shaped stop signs, just
as we know that inverted triangles indicate where traffic should yield.
These are just a few of the thousands of standards that impact on our lives.
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What
is a standard?
A standard was defined by
the National Standards Policy Advisory Committee as:
"A prescribed set of rules,
conditions, or requirements concerning definitions of terms; classification
of components; specification of materials, performance, or operations;
delineation of procedures; or measurement of quantity and quality in describing
materials, products, systems, services, or practices." |
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In layman's
terms, a standard is a rule or requirement that is determined by a consensus
opinion of users and that prescribes the accepted and (theoretically) the
best criteria for a product, process, test, or procedure. The general
benefits of a standard are safety, quality, interchangeability of parts
or systems, and consistency across international borders.
Why do we use
standards?
We
use standards to achieve a level of safety, quality, and consistency in
the products and processes that affect our lives. In short, standards
make our lives safer, easier, and better. Standards are also vital
tools of industry and commerce. They often provide the basis for
buyer-seller transactions, hence they have tremendous impact on companies
and nations, and even on the economic fabric of the world market.
For
example, as global trade increases and companies sell their products on
foreign markets, they must ensure that their products comply with standards
from those foreign countries. The variety of different standards
for different markets means that some manufacturers must create dozens
of variations of their products, each complying with slightly different
standards. For the sake of shrinking these barriers to trade, international
standards have been developed for use throughout the world.
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How are standards
developed today?
Most
standards are developed by committees of volunteers, which can include
members of industry, government, and the public. In the U.S., the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) acts as a "parent" organization,
helping to coordinate volunteers and ensure that the development process
emphasizes four main issues: requirements for due process, appeals
procedures, the mandatory consideration of negative votes or comments,
and for "committee balance." Balance is achieved when all parties having
an interest in the outcome of a standard have an opportunity to participate
and where no single interest can dominate the outcome.
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In
the United States alone, approximately 30,000 current voluntary standards
have been developed by more than 400 organizations. These do not include
a much greater number of procurement specifications (developed and used
by Federal, State, and local procurement authorities), as well as mandatory
codes, rules and regulations containing standards developed and adopted
at Federal, State, and local levels. In addition, numerous foreign national,
regional and international organizations produce standards of interest
and importance to U.S. manufacturers and exporters.
The
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) probably produces
the largest number of International Standards, having issued over 10,000
standards. ISO's work is carried out through some 2,300 technical
bodies in which more than 20,000 experts from all over the world participate
annually in the development of ISO standards.
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History
of standards
Standards
are known to have existed as early as 7000 B.C. when cylindrical stones
were used as units of weight in Egypt. One of the first known attempts
at standardization in the Western world occurred in 1120. King Henry
I of England ordered that the ell, the ancient yard, should be the exact length of his forearm, and that it should be used as the standard unit of length in his kingdom.
History
also notes that, in 1689, the Boston city fathers recognized the need for
standardization when they passed a law making it a civic crime to manufacture
bricks in any size other than 9x4x4. The city had just been destroyed by
fire, and the city fathers decided that standards would assure rebuilding
in the most economic and fastest way possible.
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Probably
the most significant standard ever developed in the United States, however,
was the railroads' standard track gage. This standard, now used in Great
Britain, the U.S., Canada and much of continental Europe, enables railroad
rolling stock to cross the country.
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| *From NBSIR
87-3576, "The ABC's of Standards-Related Activities in the United States",
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899,
May 1987. |
