Why Standardize?
In general, our society and
economy need standards because they:
-
enable products to work
interchangeably or together;
-
provide assurance that a product
can deliver a certain level of performance; and
-
provide the tools (for example,
symbols and terminology) that make it easier for designers, manufacturers and
users to communicate.
Every day, we use thousands of
standardized items - the light bulb in your lamp, the electrical plug on your
hair dryer, the film in your camera, just to name a few. Standards simplify our
lives.
Why
do we write standards for fluid power?
Since it was
formed in 1953, the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA)
has worked to foster cooperation among users and manufacturers
by developing recommended standards and practices.
Standards benefit
the fluid power industry as a whole. Standards benefit users
because they:
-
simplify the
use of fluid power;
-
help educate
users on how to correctly size and apply products;
-
determine
product performance and how it is measured, allowing
comparison;
-
communicate
needs in a commonly understood language;
-
are written
with input from users.
Standards benefit
manufacturers because they:
-
provide
uniform methods for testing products and advertising their
ratings;
-
help to assure
system integrity and safety in the application of fluid
power;
-
help to
improve efficiency of fluid power products and systems;
-
simplify the
variety of products and sizes in the marketplace;
-
encourage new
product development;
-
help avoid
confusion in communicating with customers.
Different
needs, different types of standards
Standards for
fluid power products and systems fall into three basic
categories:
Communication
standards define the basic terms, symbols and other
communication tools used in the fluid power industry.
Glossaries, graphic symbols, metric units and dimension codes
are typical subjects for communication standards.
Design
standards establish dimensions, tolerances or other
physical characteristics of products. They ensure that fluid
power products meet dimensional criteria that enable
interfacing and interchangeability.
Performance
standards provide a voluntary method of rating products.
Pressure rating, particle counting methods used in
contamination analysis, and methods of testing for strength
and volume are typical performance standards.
NFPA's
standards programs
Why
you should you get involved:
You benefit
personally and professionally from participating in
standards development by interacting with your peers in the
industry and by learning more about fluid power technology and
the industry itself.
Your company
benefits from participating by being in a position to
influence the content of standards as they are developed
and/or by using its vote, as each company, large or small has
the same influence at ballot time.
Membership on
NFPA technical and U.S. TAG committees entitles members to
vote and comment on standards under development, thereby
influencing the standards' content. If you volunteer to serve
as an NFPA project group chair, U.S. TAG project sponsor or
ISO project leader, you are a key person in developing a
standard's content, overseeing the project from beginning to
end.
NFPA makes its
meeting schedules convenient by holding NFPA technical and
U.S. TAG meetings together, making participation on both
levels efficient and cost-effective. Meetings are held three
times per year, usually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
For more
information please contact:
Karen
Boehme (U.S. TAG) - phone: 414-778-3345, e-mail: kboehme@nfpa.com
Carrie Tatman Schwartz (NFPA) - phone:
414-778-3347, email: ctschwartz@nfpa.com
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