Learn the simple explanation of what technical standards are, their types, importance, and benefits in different sectors of engineering.
Contents:
Many definitions are used to describe what standards are, but simply put; a standard is a document that contains guidelines and recommendations prepared by a group of people with high expertise in a certain topic to show how a certain thing is made or done.
The aim of standards is to achieve the highest quality of doing something. So whether this something is to produce a product, provide a service, or operate a process, a standard will be there to set the guidelines, recommendations, and rules for achieving such a task.
For example, the ISO 50001 – Energy management is a standard used for helping organizations manage their energy performance.
Once a standard is developed, approved, and employed by concerned organizations and related people. It becomes the agreed-upon way of doing something.
Before listing the many advantages of why using standards are important, consider the following two examples of cases where standards were not used.
The previous two points and many similar cases happened due to a lack of guiding standards that can ensure the safety of people and facilities, which led to the need for unified rules and guidelines for obtaining and performing a task.
Some of the benefits of standards are mentioned below.
Imagine buying an electric device and then finding out that the socket of this device is not compatible with the power outlet, or that your power source is different from the device’s specs.
Standards ensure compatibility between related products.
A standard provides detailed information that saves manufacturers enormous amounts of time and money when developing products.
Standards provide details of requirements, specifications, guidelines, and characteristics that products, services, and processes should consistently meet in order to ensure they are fit for the purpose they’re intended for. Without posing any risks to users and customers.
As standards are basically a sum of all previous and useful expertise of how to do something, this makes following standards the shortest way to achieve the required product quality with minimum cost, losses, and highest efficiency.
As standards are globally adopted by many manufacturers and applied in many markets, they are also a crucial element of promoting international trade, as now manufacturers who comply with international standards will have easier time advertising and promoting their products worldwide without any concerns regarding
Wither their product will be accepted globally or not.
Other benefits of standards are:
Generally speaking, standards can be classified into 4 distinct types
These are the standards guiding how a product should be made to ensure customer satisfaction through better quality and safe-to-use products.
These standards also ensure compatibility between different related products.
Examples are IEC 60502 for specification for power cables with extruded insulation with a voltage rating of 1kV to 30kV. This standard also covers their accessories.
These standards ensure the presence of minimum quality associated with a certain service; they also set the rights and obligations of both the service provider and the service user. For example, the standards for handling customers’ complaints.
Process standards refer to the guidelines, requirements, and rules which should be followed by the production process to ensure the quality of products and the safety of workers.
For example, OSHA’s 1910 for Exit Routes, Emergency Action Plans, and Fire Prevention Plans.
These standards help organizations to manage their activities. Such as the standards for describing the best way to carry out a specific task such as project management or outsourcing.
For example, ISO 41001 which provides a framework to develop, implement and maintain effective facilities management across different sectors worldwide.
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