Putting the U.S. standardization system into perspective: new insights

Abstract

The odds are very high that an American attending an international standardization meeting or consulting in a foreign country will be asked about the U.S. standardization system. How is it organized? Who is responsible for developing standards? How many standards? Who sees to their implementation? What is the government's role? Why is there more than one standard for many commodities? Foreign engineers who are used to dealing with their national standards institute can be very critical of the decentralized U.S. system. Many are dissuades from applying U.S. standards because of real or anticipated problems in choosing, obtaining, and applying them. Many Americans raise similar questions. Some think that all standards come from the government. While most U.S. standardization specialists are familiar with the standards in their fields, few have an overview of the U.S. standardization system.