ISO Focus+, June 2010 PDF

Volume 1, No.
6, June 2010, ISSN 1729-8709
Standards :
Economic
and social
impact
• STMicroelectronics :
“ Standards keep us on our toes.”
• ISO 9001 for small businesses
© ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+
Contents
Comment
Prof. Masami Tanaka, Past President of ISO (2005-2006) and Vice-President,
Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) – Tools for leaders –
ISO Focus+ is published 10 times a year Demonstrating and exploiting the benefits of standards............................................ 1
(single issues : July-August,
December-January)
It is available in English and French. World Scene
International events and international standardization ............................................. 2
Annual subscription - 98 Swiss Francs
Individual copies - 16 Swiss Francs
Guest Interview
Publisher
Pasquale Pistorio, Honorary Chairman of STMicroelectronics ................................ 3
ISO Central Secretariat
(International Organization for
Standardization) Special Report
1, chemin de la Voie-Creuse
CH - 1211 Genève 20 Standards : Economic and social impact..................................................................... 8
Switzerland
The ISO Methodology – Assessing the economic benefits of standards................... 10
Tel.: +4122 749 0111
Fax: +4122 733 34 30 Standardization – A powerful economic lever........................................................... 17
E-mail: isofocus+@iso.org
Web: www.iso.org Bottom-line impact – The economic value of documentary standards...................... 20
Supporting innovation – An interview with Prof. Knut Blind................................... 23
Manager: Roger Frost
Editor: Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis New business model – Empowering emerging markets............................................. 28
Assistant Editor: Maria Lazarte
Communication Officer: Sandrine Tranchard Assessing benefits – Return on investment soars
Artwork: Pierre Granier and Alexane Rosa for participation in standardization............................................................................. 31
ISO Update: Dominique Chevaux
Translation: Translation Services,
ISO Central Secretariat Centre-fold
The ISO Methodology .......................................................................................... 24-25
Subscription enquiries: Sonia Rosas Friot
ISO Central Secretariat
Tel.: +4122 749 03 36 Planet ISO
Fax: +4122 749 09 47
News of the ISO system ............................................................................................. 34
E-mail: sales@iso.org
© ISO, 2010. All rights reserved. Management Solutions

Small businesses and ISO 9001 ................................................................................. 35
The contents of ISO Focus+ are
copyrighted and may not, whether in whole Phone recycling with ISO 14001 ................................................................................ 38
or in part, be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any Indian builder tackles GHG with ISO 14064 –
form or by any means, electronic, One of country’s first certifications . ......................................................................... 39
mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without written permission of the Editor.
360°
The articles in ISO Focus+ express the
views of the authors, and do not On the road – Brake standards for safer vehicles ...................................................... 40
necessarily reflect the views of ISO or More than location – What address standards tell us about addresses ..................... 44
of any of its members.
Safe water – Drinking and wastewater committee rides new wave ......................... 46
ISSN 1729-8709
Printed in Switzerland
New Releases
Cover photo : ISO, 2010 Hazard-free and fun play – ISO toughens toy safety ................................................ 48
Coming Up 49
© ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+

Comment
Tools for leaders

Demonstrating and exploiting
the benefits of standards
Demonstrating the economic and social benefits of standardiza- instances, to better understand and ad-
dress business and public policy issues.
tion has long been a challenge for standards communities. Already
It will therefore help future professionals
during the 1960s, the ISO Committee on standardization principles and managers to work more effectively
(ISO/STACO – since disbanded) carried out significant analysis on in the globalized world of today – and
this topic. tomorrow.
A sound understanding of the benefits
of standards is an important aspect for ad-
The role and impact of standards have to assess more systematically the costs dressing in the programmes developed by
also been studied by economic theorists. and benefits of standardization. This will academic institutions. These same institu-
In the mainstream view of economists, allow stakeholders in both public and tions can contribute to nurturing research
standards are seen as contributing to pub- private sectors to better appreciate the and studies that will help to consolidate
lic welfare by : significance of standardization. It will and expand knowledge in this field.
• Improving economic efficiency – also help to set standards development Standards education and the further
ensuring compatibility and interoper- priorities that optimally match business development of methods of analysis
ability and supporting variety reduc- and societal needs. In turn, this will con- and case studies on the impact of stand-
tion, standards allow the development tribute to ensuring the availability of ards on business and society go hand in
of markets for materials and product sustainable resources for standardiza- hand. Academic institutions, companies,
components, as well as for completion, as well as the most efficient use of governments and standards-developing
mentary products these resources. organizations should increase their co-
Secondly, more objective analysis will operation to feed this synergistic proc-
• Limiting “ market failures ” – e.g. ess. In this endeavour, their objective
by reducing the “ information asym- contribute to raising the awareness of
policy makers and business leaders as to should be to improve the understanding
metry ” beween buyers and producers of standardization and to reinforce its ex-
through minimum quality and safety the importance of standardization. The
awareness of leaders has long been an im- traordinary potential as a tool which can
standards help to address key challenges of the 21st
portant issue. Their interest in standards
• Promoting trade. century. 
matters and their understanding of the
In recent years, new efforts have been benefits that standards can bring to their
dedicated to this topic and some very in- organizations have a substantial influence
teresting research has been published. on the commitment of resources to stand-
This ranges from analysis of the macro- ardization activities.
economic impact of standards on na- The availability of clear and consist-
tional economies and international trade, ent findings on the economic and social
through case studies covering specific benefits of standards from an increasing
businesses and industry sectors, and to number of high quality studies will help
the ISO Methodology for assessing the give leaders the confidence to mobilize
benefits of standards, developed with resources for standards development and
the support of Roland Berger Strategy use.
Consultants. Thirdly, it is important to relate the
The consolidation of knowledge deriv- study of economic and social benefits of
ing from these studies will make a signifi- standards with higher education. Well
cant contribution to enhancing the stature organized higher education programmes
of standardization by providing stake- can give future professionals and man-
holders with more objective evaluations agers a consistent and comprehensive
Prof. Masami Tanaka
of the impact of standards. knowledge of standards matters within
Past President of ISO (2005-2006)
Firstly, the application of quantitative a short period of time. I believe that Vice-President, Japanese Industrial
analysis techniques will make it possible this knowledge is very useful, in many Standards Committee (JISC)
ISO Focus + June 2010 © ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+ 1

World Scene
ISO 31000 and the “ ash crisis ” Biodiversity provides humans with food,
fuel, medicines and other essentials we can-
No one could have not live without. This rich diversity is being
anticipated the conse- lost at an accelerated rate because of human
quences that the erup- activities. Not only does this impoverish
tion of an isolated Ice- us, but it weakens the ability of living sys-
landic volcano would tems, on which we depend, to resist growing
have worldwide : pas- threats such as climate change.
sengers stranded around Consensus-based International Stand-
the world, airlines los- ards are powerful tools for taking action.
ing billions, companies Many ISO standards, such as those devel-
unable to continue pro- oped by ISO/TC 207, Environmental man-
duction, labourers loos- agement, are already making an important
ing jobs. contribution.
Or could they ? Kevin
W. Knight, leader of the
ISO group that devel-
oped the new ISO risk
management standard,
ISO 31000:2009, says : “ Given knowledge
of the activity of the Icelandic volcano and
the impact on aviation of past eruptions in
Asia, it is surprising that no plans were in
place to manage such a disruption-related
risk.”
Oil catastrophe and SR
For Mr. Knight, the ash cloud is just an-
other example of the ever-changing risks “ From devastated ecosystems to ruined
that must be managed in an increasingly fisheries, broken local economies to toxic
global economy with greater reliance on health effects, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
“ just in time ” delivery. “ One has to wonder may well be the greatest catastrophe in the
just how seriously, if at all, top management history of petroleum, ” writes Jeffrey Hol-
participate in planning and testing of disrup- lender, author of several social responsibil-
tion-related risk scenarios,” he said. ity books (csrwiretalkback.tumblr.com).
Illuminating conference
Not all organizations were caught unpre- For Mr. Hollender, the disaster is an op-
pared, explains Mr. Knight. United Parcel “ Lighting, quality and energy efficiency ” portunity to identify collective failings so
Service (UPS), a company with a strong risk was the theme of the 2010 conference or- this never happens again. Firstly, he argues,
management culture, quickly redirected air ganized by the International Commission on the incident is a wake-up call on the envi-
freight bound from Asia to Europe, to Istan- Illumination (CIE), in Vienna, Austria. ronmental hazards of this resource, to which
bul and then loaded it onto trucks for deliv- The event provided a platform for light- we can respond with cleaner renewable en-
ery to its final destination. ing manufacturers and experts from around ergy sources.
Mr. Knight encourages all industrial, the world to discuss the latest technolo- Second comes the need to increase regu-
commercial and public sector organizations gies being developed for light and lighting latory oversight and safety and security
to take advantage of ISO 31000, which sets including : experimental projects, lighting measures.
out principles, framework and a manage- techniques, integrated approaches in light- And finally is the recognition that a com-
ment process to confidently address any ing design, quality criteria, future schemes, mitment to social responsibility may have
type of risk. installations, energy efficiency and much prevented this incident (e.g. through vol-
Read the full article at www.iso.org/ more. untary installation of non-required safety
bonusarticles. ISO Deputy Secretary-General Kevin gears, or greater transparency for a more ef-
McKinley highlighted the importance of ficient response, etc.).
One planet, one future International Standards as tools to address These measures take money. An auto-
global challenges faced by industry, such as matic switch that closes off blow-outs can
“ Did you know that you are one in a mil- innovation, cost reduction, product safety, cost some USD 500 000. But if we compare
lion ? Or more precisely, one of millions on access to markets, risk management and it to the billions lost in market value fol-
this wondrous planet ” says the UN Environ- many others. lowing the catastrophe, social responsibil-
mental Programme on their World Environ- Mr. McKinley also looked at the long ity is always a good investment, concludes
ment Day 2010 message, which is dedicated standing cooperation between ISO and Mr. Hollender.
to biodiversity. CIE. “ Together we have published 13 ISO/ “ And that’s the real lesson of the Deep-
Celebrated on 5 June with the theme CIE standards on subjects such as color- water Horizon disaster : Whether it’s new
“ Many species. One planet. One future ” the imetry, lighting of workplaces, road traffic energy policies or adopting corporate re-
day echoes an urgent call to conserve the di- lights, emergency lighting and others, ” he sponsibility, doing the right thing usually
versity of our planet. said, “ and we have one active project in costs a little more up front, but always saves
Out of the estimated five million to 100 progress. far more in the long run.”
million species in the world, scientists have “ Looking forward, it’s important that we This food for thought comes at a time
so far only managed to identify about two strengthen this cooperation even further to when the ISO Working Group on Social
million. That means that there is a lot that meet emerging global challenges such as Responsibility (SR) has just completed its
we still do not know about our planet, but energy and climate change.” eighth meeting and a global forum for devel-
we risk losing it before we do. Already more Currently, CIE participates as an active oping countries in Copenhagen, Denmark.
than 17 000 species are threatened with liaison organization in some 27 ISO com- The SR standard, ISO 26000, is expected to
extinction. mittees and subcommittees. be published later this year. 
2 © ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+ ISO Focus + June 2010

Guest Interview
STMicroelectronics
Pasquale Pistorio
Pasquale Pistorio, Honorary
Chairman of STMicroelectron-
ics, is Honorary Chairman of the
STMicroelectronics Foundation,
and Chairman of the Pistorio
Foundation, both non-profit
organizations located in Switzer-
land. Mr. Pistorio became Presi-
dent and CEO of SGS-THOM-
SON Microelectronics (later
renamed STMicroelectronics) in
1987, after it was founded fol-
lowing a merger between Società
generale di semiconduttori (SGS),
an Italian microelectronics com-
pany of which he was President
and CEO, and the French com-
pany Thomson Semiconducteurs.
Under his leadership, STMicroe-
lectronics became one of the lead-
ing semiconductor manufacturers
in the world. Furthermore, he is
member of the Board of Brembo
(Italy), Atos Origin (France), Ac-
cent (Luxembourg) and Chairman
of Sagem Wireless (France), and
has been an independent member
of the Board of Directors of Fiat
since 2004.
Pasquale Pistorio started his
career in Motorola Corporation,
where he eventually became
Vice-President, then General
Manager of the International
Semiconductor Division.
From 2004 to 2008, he was Vice
President of Confindustria for
innovation and research, and a
member of the French Prime Min-
ister’s strategic advisory group on
Photo : STMicroelectronics
attracting foreign investment.

Guest Interview
In 2007, he also served as Chairman of
Telecom Italia.
He has been awarded the title of Com-
mendatore al Merito and Cavaliere del
Lavoro of the Italian Republic, as well as
Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite
and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur of
the French Republic. In addition, he has
received honorary degrees from the Uni-
versities of Bristol, Genoa, Malta, Pavia,
Catania, Palermo, University of Sannio
(Benevento), and Milano Bicocca.
ST was among the first

to implement ISO 14001.
In the past, Mr. Pistorio was a member

of the International Advisory Council of
the Government of Singapore ; of the In-
ternational Business Council of the World
Economic Forum ; and of the French
Conseil Stratégique des Technologies de
l’Information.
ISO Focus+ : In your view, what role do

standards play for an organization or
business ?
Pasquale Pistorio : Let me start by em-
phasizing the importance of external and
internal standards. By external, I mean
consensus-based standards developed
by a recognized standards body, such as
those published by ISO, and by internal,
the processes and targets developed by
the company itself for its own operations.
Both are key to the smooth operation of
any organization.
I would say that standards have five
critical benefits.
Firstly, they provide a common frame-
work and language. Take for instance a
multinational company like STMicro-
electronics (ST), with so many plants,
divisions and units, being able to under-
stand each other no matter what country
or office we are communicating with, is
absolutely key to business. Common ter-
minology and processes ensure that we all
speak from the same textbook.
The second critical benefit of standards
is progress. Standards help a company to
set targets, and to meet and exceed these
targets. In this way, standards can drive
productivity and development in, for ex-
ample, manufacturing or sales, and the
company’s operations in general.
The third benefit is benchmarking.
A cleanroom operator at ST’s world-class semiconductor semiconductor lab in Crolles, France. Standards are sources of best practice.

ISO Focus+ : What has been STMicro-
electronics approach to, and experience
with, standards ?
Pasquale Pistorio : I would confidently
say that ST has taken a proactive ap-
proach. We consider standards as tools
for progress. Within ST, standards pose
a competitive challenge, a desire to do
and be better, a driver for continual im-
provement. That is why, in addition to
implementing recognized International
Standards, we are continually develop-
ing internal ones that help us take that
extra step for our company. We call it the
“ WWS ”, which signifies “ World Wide
Standards ”.
STMicroelectronics’ leading-edge manufacturing facility in Agrate, Italy. We have created WWS for everything
– From machine uptime to sales calls !
About STMicroelectronics The same standards are used to maximize
production and efficiency within the com-
pany everywhere in the world. Standards
STMicroelectronics is the world’s fifth largest semiconductor company with net
are formidable tools for stimulating inter-
revenues of USD 8.51 billion in 2009. Offering one the industry’s broadest product nal targets. In ST, the implementation of
portfolios, ST serves customers across the spectrum of electronics applications WWS resulted in cost effectiveness and
with innovative semiconductor solutions by leveraging its vast array of technologies, improved productivity.
design expertise and combination of intellectual property portfolio, strategic Our success with standards relies on
partnerships and manufacturing strength. everyone’s commitment : employees,
including line managers, and top ex-
The company has particular strengths in multimedia, power, connectivity and sensing
ecutives. International Standards make
technologies and its sales, including wireless business conducted via ST-Ericsson, people proud. Our constant drive to
the 50/50 Joint Venture with Ericsson, are well balanced among the industry’s excel motivates the workforce. ISO
major sectors. ST also has a strong focus on delivering solutions that reduce energy 9001 (quality management) resulted
consumption at the point of use in domestic and industrial applications and a growing in positive internal competition with-
presence in the emerging advanced healthcare market. in the organization, encouraging and
motivating employees, proud of their
The group has approximately 50 000 employees, 16 advanced research and
achievements.
development units, 39 design and application centers, 13 main manufacturing sites Certification was not only an objective,
and 78 sales offices in 36 countries. it was an incentive. It was required by
our customers, but also expected by our
employees who saw it as recognition of
They are useful tools for comparing com- from England ! By the end of the decade, their efforts. In my experience, standards
pany processes both internally and exter- Italy had only three certifications and they are a means to meet corporate objectives.
nally. They are a valuable means to drive were all ours. France had seven, of which They are not, in any way, in contradiction
constructive competition in markets and four were ours. to profits.
within companies themselves. They are, ISO 14001 allowed ST to set ambitious
overall, a tool for effective management. targets, to strive for excellence. And we
The fourth benefit is recognition. The were recognized by our customers who
implementation of International Stand- could say, “ Boy, those guys are really
ards reassures suppliers and clients that a doing something special ! ”.
company has achieved a certain level of Finally, the last benefit I want to highlight
quality and that it complies with globally is continual improvement. Standards are a
recognized best practice. means for driving excellence. With man-
And smart companies recognize this. agement system standards like ISO 14001
Let me tell you an anecdote. When ISO or ISO 9001 (quality), you never really
14001 (environmental management) was achieve your target – you have to keep on
first introduced at the end of the 1990s, I setting the bar higher. Once implemented,
immediately requested that ST be among you are requested to continually update the
the first to take it on board. system and, if applicable, renew your certi-
The smart contact lens with embedded
At the time, there were no ISO 14001 fication. Standards keep us on our toes. And wireless sensor promises earlier diagnosis
auditors in Italy, so we had to bring one that is a goal of our internal standards too. and optimized treatment of glaucoma.

Guest Interview
Photo : STMicroelectronics ISO/TS 16949 (quality management for

the automotive sector). Our commitment
to proactively implement International
Standards sends a powerful message
about our company to our customers.
ST’s participation in the development
of various relevant product technology
standards is key for being at the forefront.
We are among those setting world indus-
try standards, which help expand and cre-
ate new markets. Having the standards is
an opportunity to join the competition.
ISO Focus+ : Today, social responsibil-

ity (SR) is becoming a growing issue for
companies. Can you tell us more about
STs engagement in social responsibil-
ity ?
Pasquale Pistorio : Social responsibility
has indeed become very “ fashionable ”. If
you asked a company in the 1970s what
was more important, keeping your share-
holders or your stakeholders happy, they
ST’s motion sensors change the way consumers interact with mobile phones, would have answered shareholders ! But
remote controls and games.
today, it is clear that the interests of both
In fact, the cost of not implementing proach can influence its partners, com- are linked.
them is higher. Addressing errors and petitors and even the general public ? SR is not just an ethical mandate, the
correcting faults is much more costly than company itself also benefits in the long
Pasquale Pistorio : As I have mentioned,
prevention. run : improved financial performance and
standards drive us, setting requirements,
ISO 14001 was also a key standard for staff morale, and so on.
targets, specifications, which are key for
ST. Employees were stimulated by the competing in international markets. But as And here is another anecdote, back
sense of responsibility and pride of work- a company, we also want to get involved, when the UN Global Compact was first
ing for a company certified to ISO 14001, cooperating, suggesting, working on new formed, ST was one of the few compa-
particularly the younger generations who standards, actively participating in the nies quick to sign up and comply with its
were more sensitive to those issues. search for excellence that they represent, principles even before their publication !
But let me tell you a secret about envi- both internally and internationally. Once again, the company sent a positive
ronmental management – the truth is that message to our customers, suppliers and
we were making money. If you reduce employees.
energy, you save costs. Not only is it a Today, the Global Compact principles,
We look forward
matter of responsibility, it is also practical together with environmental neutral-
business sense.
to seeing ISO 26000 ity and budget allocation towards social
launched. projects, constitute our three main com-
ISO Focus+ : How important is it for mitments towards SR. The fact that the
companies to participate in standardiza- future ISO 26000 has taken globally es-
ST actively participates in international
tion ? Do you think ST’s proactive ap- tablished principles, such as the Global
standardization through, for example,
Compact, is a fantastic advantage for ST !
national standards bodies. The company
We look forward to seeing ISO 26000
appreciates the platform that standardi-
launched.
zation committees provide to exchange
views and learn from other industry rep-
ISO Focus+ : This edition of ISO Focus+
resentatives and stakeholders.
looks at the economic benefits of stand-
Our contribution helps to create global
ards. In your view, how can we measure
harmonization. It’s definitely a positive

these benefits ?
experience. Our partners and customers
benefit from our efforts, and appreciate Pasquale Pistorio : Internally, it’s easy.
the value of this work. We set targets and measure them. Exter-
We always try to go the extra mile, or nally it’s more difficult to establish exact
in this case, the extra metre ! When we figures, but if you don’t comply, you lose
ST’s Cartesio system-on-chip is ideal for
use in automotive telematics and navigation implemented ISO 9001, we also took on a market. That is a good way to see it, as
solutions. board the more exhaustive demands of a must for success. 

Special Report
Standards :
Economic and social impact
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis
In the past few years, a number of studies on the economic and

social benefits of standards have been carried out or supported by
either national standards bodies, or external research teams. They
have followed a great diversity of approaches, from macro-economic
assessment, to studies related to the economic impact of individual
standards, or suites of standards for various types of organizations.
Most recently, ISO has developed a companies participating in standardiza-
“methodology to assess and communi- tion. In the majority of cases studied so
cate the economic benefits of consensus- far, the benefits at stake outweigh the
based standards”. It is designed to sup- cost of participation by a wide margin, he
port analysis and studies addressing both concludes.
companies and industry sectors, at na- The US National Institute of Standards
tional or international level, with a view and Technology (NIST) focuses on case
to provide a consistent framework and a studies for documentary standards in or-
robust set of tools. Using this methodol- der to understand and measure their soci-
ogy, national standards bodies and all the etal impact.
other concerned parties can analyze and A new international division of labour is
clarify the contribution that voluntary emerging as the result of standardization,
consensus‑based standards add to the per- says Prof. Junjiro Shintaku. He looks at
formance of individual companies and concrete examples in the DVDs, PCs and
industry sectors. mobile markets, to uncover the dynamics
The consolidation of knowledge deriv- behind these growing markets.
ing from these studies will make a signifi- How do standards support innovation?
cant contribution to enhancing the stature Is the question asked by Prof. Knut Blind,
of standardization by providing stake- who concludes that standards clearly sup-
holders with more objective evaluations port the diffusion of new products into
of the impact of standards. the marketplace, and support economic
The June issue of ISO Focus+ provides growth.
insight on the ISO Methodology and A country perspective is given by Ol-
looks at the economic and social benefits ivier Peyrat who looks at the impact of
of standards from various perspectives. It standardization on technological change
includes a portfolio of articles reflecting and economic growth in France. In 2009,
on the contribution that consensus-based AFNOR, the ISO member for France,
standards make to improving the per- published a study to observe the impact of
formances of companies and industries, standardization from both the macro- and
as well as to providing societal benefits micro-economic standpoints. The survey,
for countries and communities. which is the first of its kind, yielded con-
The number of companies and organi- clusive results: standardization directly
zations investing in participating in the contributes approximately 25 % of French
development of standards is enormous. GDP growth (gross domestic product), and
But are the returns worth the expendi- 66 % of the 1 790 French companies inter-
tures ? Calculating costs is relatively sim- viewed stated that standardization contrib-
ple, but how can participants calculate the uted to the generation of profits. 
benefits ? An article by Henk J. de Vries
focuses on the return on investment for Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis is Editor, ISO Focus+.

Special Report
The ISO Methodology

Assessing the economic benefits of standards
by Daniele Gerundino and Michael Hilb A much needed approach
We standardizers are generally quite certain that our work gener-

The ISO Methodology’s main objec-
tives are to provide :
ates considerable benefits for organizations, markets and society. But • A set of methods to measure the
substantiating and quantifying the real-world value of consensus- impact of standards on organizational
value creation (with an emphasis on
based standards is no small challenge. Few organizations have sys- businesses)
tematically analyzed the issue. Data is scarce and difficult to capture. • Decision-makers with clear and
manageable criteria to assess the value
Though difficult, quantifying the ben- on the economic impact of specific stand- associated with using standards
efits of standards is extremely important ards on various types of organizations. • Guidance on developing studies to as-
for monitoring and prioritizing stand- No common methodology for economic sess the benefits of standards within a
ardization activities, as well as for raising assessment and quantification of benefits particular industry sector.
awareness and improving communica- has been used, preventing comparisons
tion, promoting the use of standards and between studies, and making it difficult The ISO Methodology has been de-
encouraging stakeholder participation. to draw any benchmark or general trend signed to support analysis of a company,
In the past several years, a number of from a combination of studies. or a specific organizational entity such as
studies on this issue have been developed These shortcomings inspired the de- a business function or a business unit, as
or supported either by national standards velopment of the ISO Methodology to well as industry sectors, at the national or
bodies or external research teams – a assess and communicate the economic international level. It primarily addresses
compendium of these studies is available benefits of consensus-based standards. for-profit companies, but the approach
online on the ISO/IEC Information Cen- To this end, a project aiming to con- can be extended to cover public sector or-
tre (www.iso.org/benefits). tribute to the sustained development of ganizations. It can be used by anyone par-
An analysis of these studies shows ISO and the promotion of the ISO sys- ticipating in the development of projects
a great diversity of approaches : from tem was approved by the ISO Council and studies to assess the economic ben-
macro-economic assessment to research in 2007. efits of standards.

The ISO Methodology was developed identifying and quantifying the impact of Through analysis of activities within
with the support of Roland Berger Strat- standards on value-creating activities. the various business functions in the val-
egy Consultants in a three-phase project : The overall approach is based on the ue chain, the ISO Methodology aims to
• Phase 1 : Analysis and comparison of value chain analysis (VCA), a concept of identify and quantify how standards con-
recently published studies and their business management introduced by Pro- tribute to value creation.
related methodologies (October – De- fessor Michael Porter of Harvard Busi- When the value chain approach is ap-
cember 2008) ness School during the 1980s. plied to an industry sector, the network
• Phase 2 : Development of a generic
methodology to assess and quantify A - Management & Administration
the economic benefits of standards
B-R&D
(February – May 2009)
C - Engineering
• Phase 3 : Application of the methodol-
D - Produrement
ogy to a pilot industry-sector world-
wide (July – September 2009). E - Inbound F - Production / G - Outbound H - Marketing & I - Service
Logistics Operations Logistics Sales
A project steering group and a team of
reviewers, including national standardi-
zation bodies (NSBs) and academic in-
stitutions, maintained an overview of the Figure 1 – Company value chain.
project and provided peer review.
The project has been an exciting and en- of suppliers and customers are included.
A value chain is a chain of activities
riching experience – a race against time ; This is referred to as the “ industry val-
within an organization operating in a
a relentless effort to capture original data
specific industry. The output of the work ue chain ” (see Figure 2 for an example
from a significant number of organiza-
of an organization (products or services) taken from the oil and gas engineering
tions all over the world ; and an attempt to pass through all the activities of the chain sector). Once the industry value chain
consolidate experts’ input in a solid and in a given order, gaining value in each is determined, the position of individual
manageable framework. step. companies and their functions in the in-
The VCA aims to investigate the struc- dustry can be better understood.
Core concepts ture of the value chain and of the activities
performed at each step of the chain, with
The methodology addresses the follow- The process
a view to understanding and quantifying
ing key questions :
the contributions of various activities to To assess the benefits of standards for
• What is the contribution of standards value creation. a given organization it is necessary to fol-
to corporate value creation ? In this approach, the operations of a low the steps indicated below.
• How do industry and company specif- company are subdivided into a number
ics impact corporate value creation of key business functions (see Figure 1). Step 1 : Analyse the value chain
arising from standards ? Each of these functions is associated with
a set of specific value chain activities. The first step is to determine the value
• How can companies maximize the
For example, the activities concerning chain of the industry, and to position the
value generated by standards ?
the production of components and the as- organization to be assessed in the context
To answer these questions, the ISO sembly of final products are undertaken of this value chain.
Methodology provides a conceptual within the “ production/operation ” busi- The analysis makes it possible to iden-
framework and a set of tools aimed at ness function. tify the segments of the industry value
Trading
IN SCOPE
Exploration Production Refining/ Manufacturing Distribution Marketing
Transfer to refinery Product development
Engineering
Component manufacturing
Interface from exploration to production is assessed
Figure 2 – Oil and gas engineering industry value chain and scope.

Prioritizations
Activities Impacts of standards on activies Causes of impact Categories of

Standards Impact Map (Functional Perspective)
standards
Standard categories
Functions Activities Impacts Description Prioritization Impact from
[1-high, 3-low] Product Process Compliance participation
Better internal information transfer Using standardized documents and specifications makes passing on internal information about products and services more efficient. 2 x x x
All activities Better training of personnel Inbound Logistics staff can be trained better because relevant specifications for both products and services are standardized. 3 x x x
Inbound
logistics More efficient logistics Inbound Logistics can be conducted more efficiently due to the reduced number of types of supplies. 1 x
In-house logistics More efficient receiving of supplies Standardized documentation, packaging, labels or tags of supplies makes receiving more efficient. 1 x x
Warehousing Reduced warehousing needs Due to the high availability of standardized products, fewer supplies need to be stored in the warehouse. 1 x
All activities Better training of personnel Production/Operations staff can be trained better because relevant specifications are standardized, for both products and services. 3 x x x
More efficient processing Due to the reduced number of types of non-standardized products, Production/ Operations can become more efficient. 1 x
Production / More efficient assembly Assembly processes are more efficient due to the modular product architecture. 1 x
Processing
Operations Better quality of equipment and supplies Higher quality of equipment and supplies based on standards reduces the failure rate and related correction costs. 1 x x
Quality assurance Better quality management Quality management based on standards can be implemented more effectively. 1 x
Reduced disadvantages from regulations Influence in standard-setting process helps to reduce disadvantages from regulations 3 x x
HSE (health, safety and environment)
Functions
Better health/safety/environmental compliance HSE management based on standards can be implemented more effectively. 1 x x
Outbound All activities Better training of personnel Outbound logistics staff can be trained better because relevant specifications for both products and services are standardized. 3 x x x
logistics More efficient logistics Reducing the number of product types means that Outbound Logistics can be conducted more efficiently. 1 x
Packing/shipping More efficient packing and shipping Standardized documentation, packaging and labels make packing and shipping goods more efficient. 1 x x
All activities Better training of personnel Marketing & Sales staff can be trained better because relevant specifications for both products and services are standardized. 3 x x x
More efficient marketing activities Marketing & Sales activities can be conducted more efficiently if there are fewer product types. 1 x
Market analysis, research Better competitor information Since competitor's products have standardized specifications, market research can be conducted more efficiently. 3 x x x
Marketing Marketing activities, client development Better customer information Communicating product and service specifications and requirements to potential customers is more effective when refering to standards 1 x x x
and Sales Contracting More efficient contractual agreements Defined specifications of the company's products and customer requirements makes concluding contractual agreements easier. 1 x x x
Higher sales Sales are higher due to customer confidence in standardized products and services. 1 x x x
Increased competition The market share is lower due to more competitors on a market for standardized products and services. 1 x x x
Sales
Reduced time-to-market For products and services based on standardized components, the time-to-market and market share are higher due to earlier access to technical 2 x x x
Benefits from participating in standard-setting process A larger market share can be achieved through the promotion of the own technology to become standard and the acquisition of customers 3 x x x x
Better customer communication You can communicate information about products and services to customers more effectively by using standardized specifications. 1 x x x
Service Customer care and technical support Better training of personnel You can train Service staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services. 3 x x x
More efficient customer care Fewer types of non-standardized products make Service activities more efficient. 1 x
Reduced consultation needs Improved quality of standardized products means less consultation required. 1 x x
More efficient transfer of internal information Using standardized documents and specifications makes passing on internal information about products and services more efficient. 2 x x x
More efficient training of personnel You can train staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services. 3 x x x
General management, financing,
More efficient management Management & Administration can be conducted more efficiently due to the reduced number of types of products and services. 2 x
Figure 3 – Standards Impact Map: functions, associated activities and impacts of standards .
accounting, controlling
Benefits from potential strategic partnerships as a result from relationship build-up during st Benefits from potential strategic partnerships arise as a result from relationship build-up during standard-setting process 3 x x x x
Comparison with best-practices of competitors The awareness of activities of competitors who use the same standardized technologies can induce internal improvements. 3 x x x
Legal Reduced liability costs Liability costs can be reduced if compliance with standards is demonstrated. 2 x x x
chain covered by the company, and to

Manage-
ment &
Facility management
More efficient transfer of internal information
More efficient training of personnel detailed list of more than 90 potential ef- product manufacturing, and customer sat-
Using standardized documents and specifications makes passing on internal information about products and services more efficient.
You can train Facility Management staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services.
2
3
x
x
x
x
x
x
consider the company’s core competences fects on the activities of the various busi- isfaction ratios.
Adminis- More efficient management of facilities Facility Management activities can be conducted more efficiently if there are fewer types of products and services. 1 x
tration Better identification of future trends and influence on standards The access to information and the influence in the standard-setting process helps to prevent negative developments 3 x x x x
Risk
More secure future sales and supplies Operational risk is reduced if products and services are based on standards, because standardized products can be sold longer time and supplies 2 x x
and key activities in relation to the crea-

IT
More efficient transfer of internal, operational information
ness functions indicated in Figure 4.
Using standardized documents and specifications makes passing on internal information about products and services more efficient. 2 x x x
Step 4 : Collect information and

More efficient training of personnel You can train IT staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services. 3 x x x
tion of value. More efficient IT activities

More efficient training of personnel
Fewer types of non-standardized products make IT activities more efficient.
You can train staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services.
1
3
x
x x x
measure impact
HR More available trained personnel There is more potential personnel available on a market for standardized technology 3 x x
Reduced HR requirements
Step 3 : Determine value drivers
HR requirements are reduced with a reduced number of types of products and services, production complexity and types of employees in product 3 x x
Step 2 : Identify the impact of

and define key operational

Clearer product specifications Standardized specifications of the suppliers' products and customer requirements make it easier to collect relevant information. 1 x x
All activities
At this point, the quantitative impact of

Better training of personnel You can train R&D staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services. 3 x x x
standards
More efficient Engineering Fewer types of non-standardized products make R&D activities more efficient. 1 x
indicators
Additional personnel costs Additional personnel cost arise from participating in the standard-setting process 3 x x x x
Engin-
eering /
Construc-
Knowledge management More efficient internal standardization
Reduced project development cost Project development costs are reduced because standards provide technical information free of charge.
standards on the selected operational indica-
It is cheaper to implement standards within a company by using open consensus-based standards instead of developing internal standards. 1
1
x
x
x
x
x
A comprehensive standards impact map

tion Design Availability of replacement components
Additional costs from adopting standards There are additional cost due to the product and process requirements specified in standards tors needs to be determined. This is done by
Critical replacement components are more readily available on the market for standardized products (which reduces costs). 1
1
x
x
x
x x
(see Figure 3) aims to determine the im-

More efficient assembly
Better quality of equipment and supplies
Investigators need to determine the val-
Assembly processes are more efficient due to the modular product architecture.
translating the impact into financial metrics.
Higher quality of equipment and supplies based on standards reduces the failure rate and related correction costs.
1
1
x
x x
Construction
pact resulting from the implementation

Better quality management
Better health/safety/environmental compliance ue drivers – crucial organizational capa-
Quality management based on standards can be implemented more effectively.
HSE management based on standards can be implemented more effectively.
It can be directly measurable (for example,
1
1
x
x x
bilities that give a company a competitive

of standards on each of the main busi-

All activities
Clearer product specifications
Better training of personnel You can train R&D staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services.
cost savings for the procurement of materi-
Standardized specifications of the suppliers' products and customer requirements make it easier to collect relevant information. 1
3
x
x
x
x x
ness functions and associated activities.

More efficient R&D
Additional personnel costs
advantage. The analysis of value drivers
Fewer types of non-standardized products make R&D activities more efficient.
Additional personnel cost arise from participating in the standard-setting process als and components), or determined on the
1
3
x
x x x x
Knowledge management
Examples include a reduction in the time

R&D
Research
More efficient internal standardization
Reduced research needs
helps assess the most relevant desirable
It is cheaper to implement standards within a company by using open consensus-based standards instead of developing internal standards.
Research needs are reduced because standards provide technical information free of charge. basis of existing company data (for exam-
1
2
x
x
x x
impacts in the standards impact map.

Reduced research needs from participating in standard-setting process Research needs are reduced because additional information is obtained during standard-setting process. 3 x x
required to perform a given activity (e.g.

Product development
Reduced product development cost
Reduced product development cost from participating in standard-setting process
Product development costs are reduced because standard technical information is available for free.
ple, the reduction of manpower needed to
Product development cost are reduced because additional information is obtained during standard-setting process.
1
2
x
x x
the design of a product component), lower Availability of replacement components

Additional costs from adopting standards To measure the actual impact, it is nec-
There are additional cost due to the product and process requirements specified in standards complete the design of products is convert-
Critical replacement components are more readily available on the market for standardized products (which reduces costs). 1
1
x
x
x
x x
cost for the procurement of raw materials, essary to identify one or more operational ed into estimated cost savings on the basis
All activities Better training of personnel You can train Procurement staff better if you have standardized specifications of products and services. 3 x x x
More efficient procurement activities Fewer types of non-standardized products make Procurement activities more efficient. 1 x
and increased sales deriving from access to indicators. Examples include : manpower of the average cost of personnel).
Procure-
Screening and selection of suppliers More efficient screening of specifications of standardized products Due to the standardized specifications of the suppliers' products and the internal requirements, it is easier to collect relevant information. 1 x x x
ment
More efficient contractual agreements Defined specifications of suppliers' products makes concluding agreements easier. 1 x x x
markets opened by the adoption of stand- needed to perform a given task, cost of
Negotiating and contracting More competition More competition in the market drives down the costs of supplies. 1 x
Larger quantities Costs of supplies are lower because larger quantities of the same type can be purchased for standardized components. 1 x x
ards. The standards impact map provides a materials and processes, rate of failure in
Quantifying the benefits
is key for prioritizing
Standards standardization activities.
Product Process Compliance (HSE) The earnings before interest and tax
(EBIT) indicator is used as a measure
R&D / Engineering
of value created. EBIT accounts for the
Procurement gross profit for a company (revenue mi-
nus costs) at a given point in time (see
Inbound logistics
Figure 5).
Production / Operations If the data is insufficient or unreliable,
the ISO Methodology describes alterna-
Outbound logistics
tive approximation methods based on
Marketing & sales data obtained from assessments of similar
functions in other organizations.
Service
Finally, all relevant impacts are aggre-
Administration gated. Together they represent the overall
EBIT impact from the use of standards for
Figure 4 – Relating business functions and impact from standards.
the company, or the business function(s),
being assessed.

Handy toolbox
The ISO Methodology offers a toolbox
to support the assessment process, the
capturing of information and data, and
the calculation of the impact of standards.
Figure 6 provides an overview of the four
steps in the ISO Methodology and their
corresponding tools.
The methodology can be used to as-
sess the impact of standards on an indus-
try sector at the national or international
level (see Figure 7). In this case, it is im-
portant to pay close attention to the sector
value chain, to the determination of the
sector’s boundaries, and to the selection
of organizations to ensure a heterogene-
ous sample (in terms of company type,
size and location). For each company be-
longing to the sample, the assessment is
performed following the four steps previ-
ously described. Individual data has then
to be consolidated at the industry level.
• Aggregate the results at company level The extent and manner in which organ-
A pilot study for the global automotive
to estimate the scale of impact at an izations are affected by standards vary by
industry has already been conducted to
aggregated sector level. company type and function, as illustrated
test the methodology.
in Figure 10.
The field study sample was designed to
Focus on the automotive sector cover a variety of company types, sizes The analysis focused on those busi-
and geographical locations (see Figure 8). ness functions and company types for
The main objectives of the study are which standards have the highest impact,
Detailed analysis was conducted on
summarized below : including research and development en-
the industry value chain, the position of
• Using the methodology’s toolbox, the companies in the various segments gineering, procurement and production
assess the impact of standards in the of the chain, the respective value drivers, (business functions), and auto manufac-
automotive industry and key industry trends, taking advantage turers and suppliers (company types).
• Evaluate the results to obtain the EBIT of the comprehensive experience and Around 80 specific impacts from stand-
impact of standards for specific com- knowledge of Roland Berger’s practice in ards were identified and quantified during
panies in the industry the automotive sector (see Figure 9). the interviews.
Functions of the Value Driver Tree Standards Impact Map
Standards
Understanding
Product Process Compliance (HSE)
• What is the impact of
standards on value
creation ? R&D / Engineering
Revenue Procurement
Inbound logistics
EBIT Selecting Production / Operations
Outbound logistics
• Which functions
along the value chain
Costs are relevant for
Marketing & sales
understanding value Service

creation ?
Administration
Operationalizing
• Which operational
indicators should be
used ?
Figure 5 – Relating value drivers to the impact of standards, and calculating their impact on value creation.

1 2 3 4
Identify value Link value drivers Link value drivers Define
drivers with costs or to operational calculation
revenues indicators scheme
Description The value drivers for a given The value drivers need to be The operational indicators A calculation scheme is defined
industry and company type linked with the appropriate linked to a certain value that links changes in an
need to be identified. Apart cost or revenue positions that driver need to be identified. operational indicator with an
from expert interviews, an are impacted. Every industry has a set of adjustment of the respective
analysis of a company cost This is essential in order to be commonly used indicators. cost or revenue position,
and revenue structure can able assess the magnitude of The appendix shows a set allowing the financial impact
also give some valuable any standard impact on value of such indicators for three of a change in operational
indications as to which drivers. industries. effectiveness due to standards
value levers are relevant. to be calculated.
• Context Analysis Framework • Context Analysis Framework • Context Analysis Framework • Context Analysis Framework
Applicable • Standards Impact Map • Standards Impact Map • Standards Impact Map • Standards Impact Map
Tools • Hypotheses Framework • Methodology Handbook • Methodology Handbook • Consolidation Package
• Workshop Template • Methodology Handbook
• Interview Guidelines
• Methodology Handbook
Figure 6 – Key steps in impact assessment and supporting tools.
The study revealed that standards affect • Lower research costs from defined For the production function, the main im-
procurement functions as follows : material and test standards pact comes from quality management stand-
• They help car manufacturers and • The reduction of product development ards, both for car manufacturers and suppli-
suppliers reduce the variety of supply costs varies, depending on the level of ers (as well as for some service providers) :
categories, with a positive impact on adherence to external standards by car • Measurable improvements result
costs (making it possible to purchase manufacturers. The closer company from quality management standards
in larger quantities) standards are to external standards, the such as ISO/TS 16949, Particular
• They help to make the procurement higher the costs savings requirements for the application
process more efficient (decreasing the of ISO 9001:2000 for automotive
• Supply costs are reduced, since
time needed to manage the process), production and relevant service part
specifications are more easily met by
and simplify contractual agreements organizations
potential suppliers
• Standardized components, even if they • Car manufacturers can also better
• Process standards positively impact
only account for a limited portion of integrate suppliers into their supply
product development costs. For example,
the car, are offered at lower prices. chains.
when combined with a range of defined
Their impact on research and develop- testing standards, quality management Using data gathered through interviews,
ment and engineering functions, on the systems lower costs and achieve compa- various types of data aggregation and es-
other hand include : rability on the market for suppliers. timates have been performed, including :
Industry sector level

Data
aggregation
Operational group
level challenge
Operational level ...
Business Unit/ ...

country level
Functional level
Impact level
Observation level Data gathering, interpretation and validation challenge

Core of approach
Figure 7 – Levels of the impact assessment approach.

• Aggregation of impacts from standards
on core business functions (R&D/engi-
neering, procurement, production) for
a single company
• Aggregation of total impacts from
standards for a company
• Estimate of the total impact from
standards on one of the core business
functions for the entire industry
• Estimate of the total impact from
standards for the entire industry.
A variety of company cases were con-

sidered in the study. The results show an
incidence of the impact from standards
ranging from 0.15 % to about 3 % of turn-
over – depending on the company and the
business function analysed.
The estimate of the total impact from
standards on the three core business func-
tions for the entire industry has been giv-
en in percent of revenues for the two most
relevant company types (see Figure 11
for an example). Since the estimates have
been computed from a relatively small
sample size, the results are given as a
range with the lower bound being 70 % of
the estimated values.
To give a better appreciation of the
scale of the standards impact, the above
estimate has been projected to the total Americas Europe Asia
industry revenues for 2008. As a result, • 5 car manufac-
• 1 car manufacturer • 4 car manufacturers turers
the total contributing impact would be be- • 4 suppliers • 8 suppliers • 5 suppliers
tween USD 38 billion and 55 billion. • 2 associations • 3 dealers • 2 associations
This estimate is based on a limited • 3 service providers
sample of companies and to achieve more • 3 associations
precise and reliable figures, it should be Figure 8 – Company types and geographies covered by the field study.
refined and validated using a larger sam-
Design & Parts Vehicles Distribution After-sales Used car Return/

Vehicles life cycle
development production production service sales recycling
Key Players
Manufactures
Suppliers
Dealers
Manufacturing
service providers
Engineering
service providers
Financial
service provider
core activities supporting activities core activities
Figure 9 – Automotive sector value chain and scope of study.

Special Report
Car Suppliers Engineering Dealers After-sales

manufacturers service providers service providers Comments
Management &
administration • Main impact for most
companies in R&D
R&D with standards as
basis for product
Procurement
development.
Production • Procurement impact
is most relevant
Logistics 1) mainly due to
economies of scale.
Marketing & sales
• Process standards in
Production have high
Service
impact on quality
Low impact Medium impact
High impact Focus of assessment

parties that are not ISO members, such
as academic institutes, research centres,
standards developing organizations and
1) Spare-part distributors companies, can contact ISO for access
(weissinger@iso.org).
Figure 10 – Intensity of impact from standards by company type and function.
The dissemination and application of
this methodology will help analyse and
Range of average effect Combined effect clarify the contribution of voluntary, con-
R&D Procurement Production sensus-based standards to the perform-
ance of individual companies and indus-
try sectors.
OEMs
ISO members are encouraged to apply
0.017 % - 0.024 % 1.18 % - 2.58 % 0.56 % - 0.80 % 1.19 % - 1.70 %
and promote the methodology with or-
ganizations in their respective countries.
1.29 % - 1.84 %
Planning is underway for presentation
Suppliers 0.67 % - 0.96 % 1.37 % - 1.96 % 0.64 % - 0.91 % 1.43 % - 2.05 %
and promotion of the ISO Methodology
to academic institutions, with a view to
stimulating further development of re-
Figure 11 – Aggregation of contributing effects (% of sales, annualized impact).
search and case studies. 
ple. However, the analysis provides a Industry, providing an example of how

clear and valid indication of the scale of the methodology is implemented for a
the standards contribution to the sector. specific industry sector.
Note : The authors would like to thank the steer-
The way forward All these documents are available ing group and the team of reviewers for their
from the ISO Website member’s portal, contributions along with the representatives of
The main deliverables of the project are : under the entry “ Economic benefits of more than 100 companies, associations and public
institutions who were involved in the project,
• A methodology guide, providing standards ” within the “ Resources ” sec- providing essential input, operational data and
information on the theory behind the tion (password protected). Interested qualified estimates.
approach, and on how the methodol-
ogy can be applied to a company (from
the private sector), an industry sector, About the authors
and how it can be adapted for organi-
zations from the public sector Daniele Michael Hilb is
• A methodology toolbox, providing a Gerundino is Stra- project manager
number of relevant methods and tools tegic Advisor to at Roland Berger
to manage the analysis the ISO Secretary- Strategy Consul-
• An implementation guide, providing General. Together tants. Together with
information and suggestions on the ap- with Michael Hilb, Daniele Gerundino,
plication of the methodology, follow- he coordinated the he coordinated the
ing a step-by-step approach ISO Methodology ISO Methodology
project on behalf of project on behalf of
• The report, Economic Benefits of
ISO and Roland Berger Strategy Consul- ISO and Roland Berger Strategy Consul-
Standards in the Global Automotive
tants. tants.

Standardization
A powerful economic lever
by Olivier Peyrat
In 2009, AFNOR, the ISO mem-

ber for France, published a study
to observe the impact of stand-
ardization from both the macro-
and micro-economic standpoints.
The survey, which is the first
of its kind, yielded conclusive
results : standardization directly
contributes approximately 25 % Standards
of French GDP growth (gross
domestic product), and 66 % of
the 1 790 French companies inter-
viewed stated that standardization
contributed to the generation of
profits.
Economic impact Standardization and growth all sizes and from all sectors of activity
(see Figure 1), irrespective of whether
A large consensus emerges from the The AFNOR study comprises two di- or not they are involved in the standardi-
analysis of current literature on the growth mensions. Firstly, a macroeconomic anal- zation process, was conducted so as to
and competitiveness factors of business ysis in order to assess the relationship be- complement the macroeconomic analy-
organizations. The amount of knowledge tween standards and growth in the long sis. It knocks several generally accepted
(in particular related to technologies) and term. This analysis is based on a meth- ideas on the head, such as the cost of
the dynamism of knowledge dissemination odology which was used for the first time standardization.
ultimately determine long-term growth in in Germany (1999) and was subsequent- Over 66 % of the companies interviewed
more mature economies. Indeed, it may ly adopted – with a few amendments – in value standardization for its contribution
be assumed that standards, as a source the United Kingdom (2005), in Australia to the generation of profits, proving that
of accrued and codified knowledge, also (2007) and in Canada (2007). it has a positive impact on a company’s
represent a significant vehicle for achiev- value.
ing this dissemination process. Another generally accepted idea is
However, their contribution to macr- Over 66 % of the swept aside by this study : it is not just the
oeconomic performance has been rela- large corporations, capable of mobilizing
companies value
tively little analyzed so far. Most studies considerable resources in the standardiza-
have focused on an analysis of processes standardization for its tion process, which consider voluntary
based on the most elaborate forms of contribution to profits. standards beneficial for their activities.
knowledge (research & development, Smaller structures such as SMEs with 250
innovation, patents, etc.) rather than on employees or less also found them benefi-
the contribution of standardization and It reveals that, over time, standardiza- cial. Thus, 69.3 % of companies consider
standards. tion directly contributes to the growth in standardization to have a positive impact
Within the scope of its 2010 standardi- the French economy, for up to 0.81 %, or on their activity.
zation strategy, AFNOR thus launched a almost 25 % of GDP growth. Given the current state of the economic
study on the economic impact of stand- Secondly, a microeconomic analysis in markets, the AFNOR study provides a
ardization. The main objective of this order to collect company perceptions of timely and factual demonstration to support
study was to measure the impact of vol- the impact of standardization. A survey French companies becoming more and more
untary standards on economic activity. of 1 790 companies or organizations of involved in voluntary standards work.

Special Report
it has often contributed to creating cor-

Very small porate wealth. Most of those interviewed
enterprises Large companies consider standardization to be a powerful
less than 20 > 250 employees economic lever.
employees This study fully supports the adage that
“ whoever sets the standard also makes
the market ”. For example, 71.2 % of
respondents found that participating in
standardization enabled them to antici-
pate future market requirements in their
own particular sector. In addition, 61.6 %
of respondents said that investing in
standardization was an efficient strategy
for promoting their interests at both Euro-
pean and international levels.
Five major lessons

The study confirmed the acknowledged
benefits of standards : product/service
interoperability, increased productivity,
SMEs market share gains, and improved inter-
action with public R&D institutions. In
Size distribution, in %
addition to these traditionally recognized
benefits, five major lessons emerge from
this study.
Building &
construction Company value enhancement
Trade When 70 % of those interviewed stated
that voluntary standards contribute to en-
hancing their company value, they were
not simply referring to brand image. They
were referring to standardization as an
economic asset. The knowledge capital
contributed by corporate involvement
in standardization work represents true
value.
Innovation
Standardization not only promotes the
Services dissemination of innovation without re-
vealing a company’s manufacturing or
Industry technological secrets ; it also renews the
interest for a product. For instance, 63 %
of respondents favoured this approach,
saying that voluntary standards made it
Sector distribution, in %. possible to better differentiate products.
Figure 1 : Size and sector distribution of AFNOR’s survey
Standardization is a selective tool.
Transparency and ethics

Anticipation and wealth like patents, voluntary standards are a
creation way of accruing knowledge. For respondents, 61 % maintained that
Standards work in tandem with inno- standards contributed to improved com-
In mature economies like France, where vation and are also a means of dissemi- pliance with competition rules, and 56 %
technological improvement constitutes nating it, since they enable companies to approved of their voluntary nature, which
the main source of growth, standardiza- share innovation while at the same time facilitates collaboration with other stake-
tion contributes directly to pushing back developing good market practices. When holders. Standardization establishes the
technological frontiers, thereby benefit- standardization has been clearly identi- rules of the game, making it possible to
ting the greatest number of people. Just fied as an investment at corporate level, eliminate players who fail to comply.

International tion in their overall strategic directions.
Investing in voluntary standards has be- About the author
Ninety percent of standards are Euro-
come an industrial project among others,
pean or international in origin. According
with the risk management involved and Olivier Peyrat
to companies surveyed, 70 % found that
the expected returns on investment for was appointed
they provide a genuine advantage for de- companies.
veloping international exchanges. In ad- Director General
dition, 46 % of companies actually found of AFNOR Groupe
in June 2003. He
that standards enabled them to increase Investing in voluntary represents AFNOR
their export capacity. Standardization
standards has become at the European
constitutes a genuine passport when it
an industrial project Committee for
comes to exports.
Standardization
among others.
(CEN) and ISO. He is currently the
Product and service quality
Chair of ISO/CASCO, ISO’s Committee
Standardization is a true guarantee of The findings of this survey confirm on conformity assessment. Mr. Peyrat
quality. For example, 74 % confirm that the role played by standardization in the is a Knight of the Legion of Honour, a
standardization gives them greater con- French economy. It provides additional former student of Ecole Polytechnique
trol over safety-related problems, and support to companies as well as political (French highest engineering school),
79 % say that it helps optimize compli- decision-makers to help them address one a Corps des Mines chief engineer, a
ance with regulations. of the major challenges of the 21st centu- graduate of Ecole Nationale Supérieure
ry : pushing back technological frontiers des Télécommunications (engineering
Pushing back frontiers in order to enhance competitiveness and school for information and commu-
growth. nication technologies), of the HEC
French companies clearly see the im- Standards thus contribute to a safer, Executive MBA (business school), of
pact of standardization as a benefit. The wealthier and more united world. In a the advanced management programme
trend here is to incorporate standardiza- word, a more sustainable world.  (AMP) of INSEAD (business school).

Special Report
Bottom-line
This is NIST’s first effort to assess the
impact of selected documentary stand-
ards – toward which NIST has contrib-
impact
uted significant resources. In the past,
NIST attempted to assess the outcomes of
the technologies using a microeconomic
approach.
NIST’s current project, while also em-
The economic value of ploys a microeconomic approach, seeks

to expand the analysis and develop a
documentary standards broader foundation for understanding and

ultimately managing the effort that it de-
votes to documentary standards.
NIST takes a two-tiered approach to un-
derstanding and assessing contributions to
documentary standards development. The
first tier examines the conduct of explora-
tory case studies designed to identify can-
didates for the second-tier analysis. This
second tier consists of detailed quantita-
tive economic impact analysis of selected
documentary standards efforts. In this
paper, a description of NIST’s overall ap-
proach to assessment is given, including
a summary of the findings of one descrip-
tive case study.
Assessment process
One of NIST’s goals is to enhance
the capability to assess its documentary
standards development performance and
impact, but there is also a recognized
“ awareness vacuum.”
During late 2007, the NIST laboratories
were canvassed to answer the question :
How well is NIST doing in this area ? The
labs were specifically asked about instanc-
es where NIST played an active role in the
development or implementation of high
impact documentary standards. Seventy-
eight respondents reported their involve-
ment in high impact documentary stand-
ards efforts in a variety of technical fields.
The near-term goal is to develop a de-
scription of NIST’s documentary stand-
ards activities and to begin the iterative
process of constructing a conceptual
framework for discussing the nature and
impact of these efforts. Several important
by Erik Puskar and David Leech questions emerge here :
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) • What kinds of documentary standards
can be distinguished ?
has recently begun the process of understanding and measuring • Do NIST’s activities cluster along
the societal impact of documentary standards, which specify char- dimensions that might make them dis-
tinguishable in terms of high, medium
acteristics of products, processes, services, or systems. This effort
and low potential impact ?
is being undertaken by the Standards Services Division (SSD) of
• Are they distinguishable in terms of
NIST’s Technology Services Operating Unit. underlying technologies, or industries

Handheld radiation detectors.
served, or in terms of their national or of “ dirty bombs ” – conventional explo- Leadership quickly fell to NIST, with
international scope ? sives used to disperse radioactive mate- its wide and deep experience in creating,
• What is the extent of NIST’s rials that might be smuggled through an testing, and validating standards. NIST
participation ? American port. chaired the “ N42 Committee ” that coor-
dinated and integrated the work of several
• What other types of organizations are
diverse groups, addressing radioactivity
involved ? Seventy-eight measurements, homeland security, and
• What are the obvious, near-term con- respondents reported protection instrumentation.
sequences (outputs) of these efforts ?
their involvement in high NIST guided the dedicated and highly
• What is their significance (outcome)? proficient groups to create the technical
impact documentary
foundation for a suite of standards. The
To begin to answer these questions, standards.
standards reflected the complexities of
selected documentary standards projects
the challenges presented by equipment
are being explored through the conduct
The challenge was simple but profound- from small, handheld detectors to mas-
of short descriptive case studies. NIST
ly daunting : create and deploy rugged de- sive, port-screening monitors, including
is currently investigating the process by
which these case studies are selected for tector equipment that can be used easily standard data formats to easily process
full quantitative impact assessment. Sev- by non-specialists and first responders to readouts.
eral have already completed ; a synopsis scan massive amounts of cargo for radio- These groups also designed the training
of one study is provided below. logical threats. needed to move the standards from the
Speed and precision were driving fac- working groups to effective field protec-
tors for the diverse group that coalesced tion practices. The initial effort took two
Radiation detector standards
to confront this challenge. The Depart- years of intense work during 2002-2004.
After the events of 11 September 2001, ment of Homeland Security pressed hard The operational experiences that fol-
American policymakers resolved to bet- on the standards development group, urg- lowed pointed to even more effective pro-
ter identify threats to protect the nation’s ing them to “ fast-track ” detection equip- tocols, and NIST devoted a further two
citizens. One potential menace is the use ment and training standards. years to refining the standards. Today,

Special Report
About NIST
NIST is a federal agency within the

US Department of Commerce whose
mission is to promote US innovation
and industrial competitiveness by
advancing measurement science,
standards, and technology.
As the national measurement institute,
NIST is frequently consulted for
research and measurements that
provide the technical underpinning
for standards, ranging from materials
test methods to standards for building
performance.
There are currently more than 400
NIST staff involved in close to 1 400
documentary standards committees.
users and vendors have access to a set of

nine specific standards for radiation detec-
tion to ease the burdens on industry and From an economic perspective, NIST knowledge about the many dimensions
defenders. These cover instrumentation, helped lower the high transaction costs of the economic impact of such activ-
alarms and fixed and mobile systems. associated with organizing and harmoniz- ity and, ultimately, collect information
Without NIST in the lead, these ra- ing technical and quality assurance issues that better informs NIST’s management
diation equipment standards would have among diverse equipment users, design- about the leverage of resources devoted
taken much longer to develop. NIST was ers, and manufacturers. to documentary standards development
viewed as an impartial participant, which efforts.
greatly helped in resolving differences The way forward The first of these quantitative impact
among the various groups involved in studies is currently underway and is
drafting the standards. Over time, other descriptive cases scheduled to be published by the end of
For all the standards, NIST personnel studies will be conducted and selected 2010. The criteria for selecting descrip-
led the harmonization of the sometimes for full quantitative impact assess- tive case studies for quantitative assess-
unrealistic differences between user re- ments. These assessments will confirm ment will evolve as NIST’s understanding
quirements and manufacturers’ concerns the focus and method of the descrip- of the impact of documentary standards
over the limits of available technology. tive case studies, accumulate a body of grows. 
In addition, NIST provided the means for
collaborators to access the information
necessary to apply the standards to differ- About the authors
ent types of instruments.
Through its voluntary public-private Erik Puskar is the David Leech is a
collaboration, the IEEE’s suite of radia- Acting Group Lea- Senior Analyst for
tion detection standards was developed der of the Global Industry and Tech-
in less than two years. As a result of this Standards Informa- nology Evaluation
expedited programme, tion Group within at TASC, Inc.,
the Standards based in Arlington,
• Problems were addressed by port
Services Division Virginia, USA.
personnel much more effectively than
(SSD) of NIST. He He has authored
they would have been without the
leads SSD’s impact and co-authored
standards
analysis efforts of voluntary consensus several economic impact assessments for
• Industry was able to develop new rug- standards as well as NIST’s efforts on NIST. As a member of the TASC Futures
ged and user-friendly detection equip- education about standardization. Mr. Pus- Group, Mr. Leech brings an economic
ment quickly and effectively kar is a member of the ANSI Committee perspective to strategic planning and
• The value added from the sales of new on Education and represents NIST on the long-term futures and forecasting asses-
equipment accrued to industry more International Cooperation for Education sments. Mr. Leech teaches economics
quickly than it otherwise would have. About Standardization (ICES). (adjunct faculty) at Stevenson University.

ISO Focus+ : Please describe the re-
search you’re working on now.
Prof. Blind : Our main focus is on inno-

vation and standardization. I know that to
some people this sounds like a contradic-
tion, but if you look closely there is a very
strong relationship between the two.
Innovation can be defined as the suc-
cessful diffusion of new products into the
marketplace and the truth is that standards
are very useful in achieving that, espe-
cially in network industries like mobile
telephony and other information technol-
ogy (IT) industries.
In some cases there can be a conflict be-
tween innovation and standardization, but
it would be incorrect to say that that is a
Supporting
general problem. The question is whether
companies with very intensive innovation
activities are engaged in standardization
to complement their portfolio, or alterna-
innovation
tively if companies that are weak in in-
novation are trying to compensate for this
weakness through active involvement in
the standardization processes.
Another aspect that we are investigat-
An interview with
ing regards intellectual property rights
(IPR), especially patents, and the IPR
Prof. Knut Blind

strategies of companies regarding stand-
ardization. Are they trying to move their
IPRs into standards, or are they trying to
Professor Knut Blind, a European avoid standards ?
academician specializing in standardi- ISO Focus+ : Are you able to say anything
now about the findings you expect to pu-
zation, says research shows that stand- blish from this research ?
ards support innovation and competi-
tion, but some stakeholders still need Prof. Blind : Preliminary results show a
somewhat negative relationship ; that is,
to be convinced. Since May 2008, companies that spend heavily on research
Professor Blind has held the Endowed and development are less inclined to en-
Chair in Standardization at the Rotter- gage in standardization activities, at least
dam School of Management. He is also within formal standardization bodies.
A similar relationship appears in regard
Professor for Innovation Economics at the Technical University of
to patents. The more patents a company
Berlin and simultaneously head of the Research Group Public Innova- has in relationship to its number of em-
tion of the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems. ployees, the less likely it will be to join
Dr. Blind has published a book entitled The Economics of Standards : standardization committees. However,
they may still be inclined to join stand-
Theory, Evidence and Policy. He is also author or co-author of many
ardization activities as members of stand-
monographs and articles in peer-reviewed journals, and still manages ardization consortia.
to find time to write occasional blog entries (talkstandards.com).
Dr. Blind’s fields of research include : standardization and technical ISO Focus+ : Do you have a theory about
why this would be happening ?
change, intellectual property rights, innovations in the service sector,
technology foresight Delphi method, scenario analysis, science and Prof. Blind : Our hypothesis is that the
rules are more flexible when the company
technology indicators.
works in a consortium, so there is a cer-
Dr. Blind was interviewed for ISO Focus+ by Sweden-based free- tain reluctance to join the formal bodies
lance journalist, Kevin Billinghurst. individually.

The ISO Methodology
Calculating the benefits
ISO has developed a simple, step-by-step methodology and
a robust set of tools to measure the economic benefits of standards.
The methodology can be applied to all companies and industry
sectors in order to identify the contribution that standards make
to their performance.
Step 1 :
Analyse the value chain
Locate the company’s position in the value chain, and
the core competences and key activities involved in the
creation of value.
Step 2 :
Identify the impact of standards
Determine the impact of standards on each of the company’s
main business functions and associated activities. A handy
tool is the standards impact map which compiles over 90
examples of such impact by business function.

Step 4 :
Collect information
and measure impact
The earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) indicator is
used as a measure of value created. EBIT accounts for
the gross profit of a company (revenue minus costs) at a
given point in time.
Step 3 :
Determine value drivers
and define key operational indicators
Value drivers are key organizational capabilities that give a company a competitive
advantage. The most desirable impact should be concentrated here.
Operational indicators are used to measure actual impact (e.g. required
manpower or customer satisfaction).

Special Report
ISO Focus+ : One of your areas of spe-

cialization is the information and commu-
nication technology (ICT) sector, which
is arguably the most important driver for
global economic growth. Why is standar-
dization so important specifically for ICT ?
Prof. Blind : Because growth in the ICT
sector is highly dependent on the estab-
lishment of new markets and new indus-
tries and standards are crucial to estab-
lishing this framework within which the
sector can expand.
Without mobile telephony standards,
for example, we would never have seen
the successful and fast growing mobile
phone industry that we have today. Stand-
ards are a crucial element for any network
industry, because each product in a net-
work depends on interfacing with other
products and infrastructure.
Standards are crucial for

any network industry.
There are of course cases in ICT where

a single company can set the standard,
but companies like Microsoft or IBM are
certainly the exception. Companies need
common standards that are accessible
for all. Without common standards, we
would quickly get locked into old tech-
nologies. The ICT sector also challenges
ISO Focus+ : Does this indicate to you your products abroad and the higher your standards, because the rapid pace of in-
that ISO and the national standards bodies growth rates will be. novation means that standards have to be
need to change their rules ? adapted to new technological options.
Prof. Blind : I think there should certain- ISO Focus+ : But doesn’t participation in
ISO Focus+ : What would be a concrete
ly be a proactive discussion on that issue. standardization in some cases limit a com-
example of the connection between stan-
Such a discussion has started, but it needs pany’s ability to differentiate itself by de-
dards development and improved business
fining areas where it is more competitive
further effort, and it might lead to a modi- opportunities and new markets ?
than others ?
fication of strategies.
Prof. Blind : The mobile phone industry
Prof. Blind : Sure. On the one hand, you in Europe is probably the best example.
ISO Focus+ : In general terms, how does have to have a sophisticated strategy. You There was a more or less political deci-
standardization contribute to innovation can’t just give away your unique knowl- sion back in the early 1990s to settle on
and economic growth ? edge and capabilities. But, on the other GSM as the single European standard.
Prof. Blind : Standards clearly support hand, very few companies are able to This was the starting point for the enor-
the diffusion of new products into the promote the development of entirely new mous success of the industry in Europe,
marketplace, and that supports economic markets by going it alone. They need the whereas the American market remained
growth. If you just have ideas that don’t support of their competitors, suppliers much more fragmented, with competing
get turned into new products, then there and customers. standards in different states and regions.
will be no economic benefit. Standardization helps to shape the com- For nearly 20 years, European consum-
So on the one hand, this transfer chan- mon framework conditions for such new ers have been able to travel anywhere on
nel mechanism is very important, and markets. For example, first you generate the continent and their phones simply
on the other hand companies have to a new platform standard and then, in the work. American users didn’t have the
become more competitive internation- next step, you compete. These are stra- same level of freedom in the early years
ally. This can be achieved by the efficient tegic decisions ; you have to think very of mobile telephony.
implementation of standards, leading to carefully about what kind of know-how Of course, an argument can also be
higher productivity. The better your com- to transfer into standardization and what made in favour of competition among
petitiveness, the more able you are to sell to keep for yourself. standards. Over the long run, it’s possi-

ble that technical performance in the USA
was made somewhat better by the com- Benefits of participating in development of standards
petition between mobile standards. But as
the market was being established, there’s
no doubt that European consumers faced According to Professor Blind, business and government can achieve the following
a more comfortable situation. benefits by participating in standards development :
Active involvement in standardization helps companies :

ISO Focus+ : Are ISO and the other stan-
dards bodies doing a good enough job get-
ting the word out to companies and organi- • Meet requirements of customers and consumers
zations about the value of participating in • Increase productivity and lower costs for setting contracts
standards development ?
• Shape the framework conditions for future markets
Prof. Blind : ISO and the other inter-
national standards bodies, as well as the • Meet possible suppliers and customers in standardization processes
national organizations, are working hard • Get in contact with knowledgeable research organizations
to meet some tough challenges from new
• Gain insight into future requirements by regulatory bodies, perhaps making some
technological developments on one hand
and from changing market requirements
governmental regulations superfluous
on the other. • Increase the value of their own intellectual property rights by integrating them into
One way they are addressing this is standards.
with new products like fast-track stand-
ards that can reach release status more Standards help countries :
quickly. This is certainly positive. But
there is strong competition from other • Start new standardization activities in areas of national technological strengths,
standards consortia, and sometimes they which may later be leveraged into European and international activities. This also
have better solutions. In general, it’s still helps in establishing a good starting position in developing global markets
not easy to convince companies that they
should participate in standardization and • Involve small and medium-sized companies at the national level
send people to the committees. • Take account of special national preferences for health, environment and safety
In the past, ISO and the various national in national standardization activities, for example by integrating consumer
standardization bodies have launched nu-
organizations, trade unions and environmental organizations
merous studies to analyse and quantify the
economic benefits of implementing stand- • Involve public procurers responsible for large segments of the demand side, for
ards and the benefits of getting involved instance in ICT.
in standards both for single companies,
specific sectors or whole economies.
In summary, it’s clearly worthwhile for strategies for standardization. I am current- health and safety. So there are good argu-
most companies or whole economies to ly a member of an expert group looking at ments in favour of national strategies. But
invest in standardization, but it’s still not an international standards strategy for Eu- they shouldn’t contradict or hinder inter-
easy to convince CEOs, especially in small rope over the next 10 years, to 2020. national or European activities.
and medium-sized companies, about the
value of engagement in standardization. ISO Focus+ : Which European countries
I think we’re facing a big challenge Standards clearly do you feel are doing the best job of raising
with the number of knowledgeable people the value of standardization as a strategic
support the diffusion of issue ?
who are reaching retirement age. We have
new products.
to find ways to make working in stand- Prof. Blind : Germany, the United King-
ardization attractive to a younger genera- dom and France certainly have very ad-
tion of experts. And there are many new There is certainly some tension be- vanced approaches. Among smaller coun-
members joining, especially from Asia, tween the national and international strat- tries, the Netherlands is very sophisticated,
and they have to be integrated into the egies. But there are situations in which perhaps even more advanced than the big
system. national characteristics require a national countries in some areas. The Scandinavian
So there are difficult tasks, but I believe approach. We need to make sure that they countries are taking the issues seriously
the standards bodies are capable of deal- complement rather than contradict each and contributing a great deal.
ing with them. other, but an international strategy is not There are unfortunately some deficits
always sufficient at the national level. in the southern parts of Europe and in
ISO Focus+ : Do you feel that it makes We should keep in mind that standardi- the new accession countries. This needs
sense for each country to develop a natio-
zation is an instrument not only to pro- to be addressed, because those countries
nal strategy for standardization ?
mote the international competitiveness need better standardization infrastructure
Prof. Blind : There is a trend toward more of domestic industries, but also to reflect if they are to become fully integrated with
and more countries developing specific the national preferences of consumers for the rest of Europe. 

Special Report
New business
Differentiation through
standards
Firstly, stakeholders must agree on the
model
standardization needs. These may be broad
including, for example, interconnecting
fields requiring high levels of quality and
reliability. But there is always space for
competitive creativity and originality. In
fact, once standards are applied it becomes
Empowering emerging markets clear which areas can be the source of in-
novative developments – a chance for a
company to differentiate itself. The stand-
ardized area is then referred to as the open
area and the remainder is the closed area.
Open architecture has a significant
impact on companies whose business
domain is in the open area. Here, techni-
cal know-how, implicit knowledge, or in-
dustrial contexts are all standardized and
made explicit. This means that some com-
panies will lose an accumulated source of
competitiveness.
Furthermore, standards specifications
create a huge integrated market where
differentiation that is incompatible with
the standards is not accepted. This can
lead to fierce price competition. To adapt
to this change in the market environment,
incumbent companies (i.e. companies al-
ready in the market) must reorganize their
capabilities.
In contrast with incumbents, entry op-
portunities for new companies increase as
standardization becomes more detailed and
specific. Even without the knowledge and
industrial contexts of the relevant product,
by Junjiro Shintaku and Hirofumi Tatsumoto new entrants can fully compete in the mar-
ket as long as they produce components
Although international standardization has been a driving factor that conform to standard specifications.
If components comply with standard
in global industrial growth for decades, its importance has increased specifications, all products are almost
exponentially in recent years. Why ? Because high growth industries identical. This means that new companies
subject to rapidly evolving technology, such as personal computers, can compete with incumbents under simi-
mobile phones, and digital video, rely on standards to enable com- lar conditions from the outset.
Once product architecture becomes
petitive developments. In this sense international standardization is a open, new vendors can emerge to supply
driver of global markets. components and it may become easier
for new distributors to handle products.
Standardization results in the significant
Recognizing this potential, the 1990s facto competition and the losers will suf-
growth and expansion of a market and in
saw the creation of a business model, ap- fer important losses.
the opportunity for new players to com-
plied by many industries, based on the Businesses therefore have an interest in
pete effectively.
market-building capacity of standards. levelling the playing field by defining Inter-
This is how existing supply chains
This may sound surprising to those who national Standards in a cooperative manner,
and sales channels are decommissioned
associate market success with company even if these standards are voluntary. Con-
and new industrial structures emerge. In
monopoly, whether of technology or pri- sensus-based standards help businesses be-
vate standards. But while a company that come more competitive and prevent major
establishes a de facto 1 standard may gain losses. But how can companies get that com-
1) A de facto standard is a custom, convention,
significant profits, this is a large and dif- petitive edge which requires distinguishing product, or system that has achieved a dominant
ficult gamble. It is not easy to win in de themselves from other companies ? position by public acceptance or market forces.

the open area, incumbents may lose their
competitive monopoly as new companies
enter the market.
As far as the closed or protected (non-
standardized) components are concerned,
new market entry is difficult. In a market
formed by standardization, added-value
can be created here. For existing compa-
nies, the closed area serves as a black box
in which implicit knowledge and know-
how for differentiation are accumulated.
In the areas that require substantial tech-
nological capabilities, such as core com-
ponents, a limited number of companies
will enter the market.
Mobile phone factory in China.
This change in the distribution of add-
ed value will ultimately lead to a drastic Welcoming open architectures ed for differentiation and the accumula-
change in the international division of la- tion of technology and knowledge can be
bour. For example, the expected return for Generally speaking, companies in a barrier against new market entrants.
a business in the open area that has been emerging economies can produce stand- In the closed area, existing companies
created through standardization will be ardized components or combine compo- in developed countries with a great deal
affected by the degree of standardization. nents with a standard interface to produce of technology accumulation are able to
If detailed specifications are formu- finished products at a lower cost than offer fully differentiated components,
lated, and the source of differentiation those in developed countries. giving them a competitive advantage.
is eliminated, the expected return will be Even if these companies engage in
low. From the standpoint of existing com- the same activities as existing compa-
panies already established in the market, nies, they can generate sufficient profits
there is little profit in division of labour because they maintain low costs. This is
Standardization
through open architecture. why companies in emerging countries offers great
However, a large number of new welcome open architectures more than in- business opportunities
companies, including those in emerging cumbents do. These new companies con- to newcomers.
economies, have gained a competitive sider standardization to be an excellent
advantage through low-cost operations. opportunity for market entry.
Once detailed standards are formulated, There are, however, obstacles for com-
As a result, on the one hand, companies
these companies are given opportunities panies in emerging countries with little
in emerging countries enjoy a cost advan-
to overcome differences with existing technology accumulation in closed areas.
tage, leading them to engage in production
companies in technology and experience. This is because the closed area serves as a
in open areas such as standard compo-
Standardization offers great business op- black box to accumulate the technological
nents and assembly of finished products.
portunities to newcomers. know-how and implicit knowledge need-
On the other hand, in closed areas such as
core components, companies in developed
countries differentiate themselves by lev-
eraging their technological accumulation
and implicit knowledge. In these areas,
incumbents exhibit technological advan-
tage and engage in production.
Price competition
This model of international division
of labour between existing companies in
developed countries, and new entrants
from emerging countries, will permit a
significant reduction in production costs
compared to the traditional model of
companies engaging in both open and
closed areas. It will also become possible
for a number of companies in emerging
countries to produce finished products,
which will encourage growth in produc-
New Chinese entrants were capable of producing mobile phones that met GSM standards. tion capacity.

Special Report
– which was supplied mainly by Euro-

pean and Chinese Taipei semiconductor
companies. These baseband chips were
integrated with peripheral components to
realize standardized functions according
to GSM specifications.
New Chinese entrants were capable of
producing mobile phones that met GSM
standards with integrated baseband chips.
With the international division of labour
resulting from standardization, a large
volume of affordable products rapidly
disseminated over the Chinese market.
In 2006, more than 40 Chinese companies produced 500 varieties of GSM mobile phones. For more details see articles, IEC cen-
tury challenge 2006 (www.iecchallenge.
In addition, the price of standard com- in Notebook PCs. With tremendous ca-
org) and Platforms, markets and In-
ponents and products will drop relatively pacity in production and fierce price com-
novation (2009). Discussion papers are
quickly because of price competition petition, the price of PCs quickly declined
found in Standardization, International
in the open area. Product price will de- to a level acceptable to large emerging
Division of Labor and Platform Business
cline to an acceptable level for both large markets. Through standardization, inter-
(merc.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp/mmrc/dp).
emerging markets as well as limited mar- national division of labour between de-
kets in developed countries. veloped and developing countries created
A large volume of open products will the enormous global market of PCs. A huge global market
rapidly disseminate over the world. This Another similar example is that of Standardization will create a huge glo-
difference in the expected return between GSM mobile phones in China. The pro- bal market. In this sense, international
the open area and the closed area will es- duction of GSM mobile phones in the standardization provides both challenges
tablish a new mechanism for international country grew from only five million units and opportunities for incumbents in de-
division of labour. in 1998 (approximately 3 % of the world’s veloped countries as well as new entrants
production) to 300 million units in 2005 in developing countries. Standardization
Concrete examples (more than 50 % of world production). thus contributes to the growth of emerg-
During that time, many new companies ing markets.
Concrete examples of these develop-
were able to rapidly enter the market. In However, some companies in devel-
ments can be found in previous studies on
1998, only five Chinese companies pro- oped countries have not accumulated suf-
the DVD, PC (personal computers), and
duced 10 varieties of GSM mobile phones. ficient practical or academic experience.
GSM mobile phone industries.
However, in 2006, more than 40 Chinese These companies are strongly urged to es-
The DVD player market, for exam-
companies produced 500 varieties of GSM tablish organizational capabilities that in-
ple, grew rapidly from 0.8 million units
mobile phones, using the baseband chip corporate international standardization as
in 1998 to 140 million units in 2006, af-
– the core component of mobile phones strategies for their business operations. 
ter the DVD International Standard was
introduced in 1997. Developing coun-
tries markets accounted for 70 % of the
world DVD market. Japanese companies About the authors
and Chinese Taipei companies supplied
core components such as optical pick-up Junjiro Shintaku Hirofumi
and LSI chipset to Chinese manufactur- is an Associate Tatsumoto is an
ers. Chinese companies, including many Professor of Corpo- Associate Professor
new entrants, assembled around 50 % of rate Strategy in the of International Bu-
worldwide shipment of DVD players. Graduate School of siness Management
In the case of the PC industry, the stand- Economics at the in the Business Ad-
ardization of interfaces made remarkable University of To- ministration school
progress in the mid 1990s. Many new kyo, Japan, where at the University
Chinese Taipei companies joined the he also serves as of Hyogo, Japan.
market and rapidly expanded their pro- Research Director of the Manufactu- He holds an MA in Economics from the
duction of motherboards and Notebook ring Management Research Center. He University of Tokyo. His main area of
PCs with integrated core components has written and edited many books in research is strategic management, parti-
(CPU and chipset) that had standardized Japanese, including Global Strategy of cularly in electronics, software and the
interfaces.The integrated core component Manufacturing Management (2009), Stra- semiconductor industry. He contributed a
(platform),were supplied by US compa- tegic Use of Consensus-based Standards chapter to Platforms, Markets and Inno-
nies, notably by Intel. (2008), and Architecture-based Analysis vation (2009) that presented the impact
Chinese Taipei production shares of Chinese Manufacturing Industries of standardization on the international
reached 80 % in motherboards and 90 % (2005). division of labour in the PC industry.

first option because it makes it possible
to test the product, which could be ex-
pected to improve sales. However, a test-
ing standard developed by the product’s
manufacturer would not be very credible
to customers.
Option #3
A better option would be to develop a
standard in a consortium, in cooperation
with potential customers. This would en-
hance credibility and probably improve
sales. However, some customers will still
hesitate, mainly because of compatibility
issues. The specifications laid down in the
standard may make it impossible to com-
bine the product with system elements of-
fered by competing companies.
Option #4
Assessing A common standard supported by mul-

tiple suppliers offers the fewest disad-
vantages. In this case, developing an ISO
benefits
standard is the most feasible option not
only because this would entail extension
of an existing standard, but also because
the result would be a genuine Interna-
Return on investment soars for tional Standard, allowing any stakeholder

to get involved in its development. Here,
participation in standardization “ stakeholders ” includes not only suppli-

ers and their customers, but also, for in-
stance, organizations involved in testing
and certification. The biggest winners in
this scenario are users, who would be able
by Henk J. de Vries
to buy better products tested according to
The number of companies and organizations investing in participat-

a commonly accepted and reliable stand-
ard. This, in turn, allows users to compare
ing in the development of standards is enormous. But are the returns the offers among various suppliers. For the
company, the advantage is that the market
worth the expenditures ? Calculating costs is relatively simple, but for innovative products will increase con-
how can participants calculate the benefits ? siderably. However, this market may have
to be shared with other companies.
not be used because it assumes analogue The difference for companies between
Which option is best ?
technology. In this case, the company has the third and fourth options is like choos-
One of our students from the Rotterdam four possible options : ing between having a whole small cake,
School of Management, Erasmus Univer- or a large slice of a big cake. Estimates
sity, recently finished an internship in a show that, in this case, the biggest payoff
Swiss company that developed an innova- Option #1 comes from the fourth option. This differ-
tive new product in which the user benefit Do nothing and accept that sales of the ence can amount to several million Swiss
is achieved by replacing analogue technol- product will be low because there is no francs (CHF).
ogy with digital. In order to demonstrate standard to prove its fitness for use. The company cost of developing an
its fitness for use, this product should International Standard amounts to about
be tested against an accepted standard.
This is important because the product is
Option #2 CHF 10 000, so the benefits far outweigh
the expenditure. Moreover, cooperation
intended to be used as part of a system, Develop a company standard to specify with customers, competitors and other
and if the product fails, the entire system the interface between the product and the stakeholders positively contributes to the
will fail. Unfortunately, the available ISO system, as well as a method to test the company’s reputation, while the other op-
standard for this product category can- product’s quality. This is better than the tions may have the opposite effect.

Special Report
Calculating the benefits

How did we calculate the benefits ? The
cost part is easy. Participation in stand-
ardization is an investment of time and
money. Time is needed for writ-
ing standards, reading docu-
ments, providing comments,
meetings and travel, as well
as long discussions – both in-
ternally and externally. Time
is money – simply multiply
the estimated time investment
with salary figures. Money is
also needed for travel, hotels
and possibly for hosting meet-
ings or providing test facilities.
Calculating the benefits, on
the other hand, is more difficult.
In this case, the benefits should
come from increased sales, while
in other cases, reduced produc-
tion costs might be paramount.
We compare three alternatives
(company standardization, consor-
tium standardization and international
standardization) with the zero-option : do-
ing nothing.
The benefits far outweigh

the expenditure.
To calculate the benefits, we need es-

timates of price and cost of the product
and of the number of products to be sold
per year. The benefits can be calculated
by multiplying the difference between
sale price and production cost per product standards development process is open sity, has developed a method for mapping
with the total number of products. This to representatives of any interested ISO stakeholders to determine a subset of core
should be calculated for the four scenar- member country. At the national level, stakeholders. A particularly important
ios. Of course, there are many uncertain- the ISO member bodies organize a con- question is whether the stakeholders have
ties, such as the willingness of customers sensus-based process, open to all inter- common or conflicting interests.
to buy the new product and the behaviour ested national stakeholders, to prepare If everyone is in agreement, then per-
of competing firms. the national position. At the international haps participation is unnecessary : others
So far, we have assumed that the stand- level, a working group with international will probably do the job and will come up
ard the company wants to have will be- experts drafts the standard and a supervis- with an acceptable standard. The other ex-
come available. In the case of a company ing technical committee takes the essen- treme would be that so many stakeholders
standard, the company can manage this tial decisions, including the voting proc- have deviating interests that it makes no
internally. But the consortium standard ess among participating member bodies. sense to participate – we can see in ad-
is more complicated because other or- With this many stakeholders involved, vance that it will be impossible to achieve
ganizations are involved. Now the choice the question is whether the company can the desired result.
is between teaming up only with other expect to achieve its preferred outcome. The in-between situations are perhaps
stakeholders with the same interest, or the most interesting : the outcome is not
also involving competitors, which intro- Gauging stakeholders certain but participation by the company
duces greater uncertainty about the out- can make the difference. Maybe the com-
come of the process. The first step is to make an inventory of pany will have to convince others to join.
Calculating the benefits of the last op- these stakeholders. Who are they ? Which And it will have to delegate competent
tion, developing an International Stand- ones are most important ? The Rotterdam people and take other steps to ensure that
ard, are even more complicated. The School of Management, Erasmus Univer- participation is indeed effective.

Our research revealed more than 100 same technical interests and may repre- to societal benefits outweighs the cost of
factors that together determine the effec- sent potential business partners. These participation.
tiveness of participation. Even if all pos- relationships can be extremely valuable, In the majority of cases studied so far,
sible measures are taken, the outcome of and can even be the main reasons to the benefits at stake outweigh the cost
the process is not guaranteed. The com- participate. of participation by a wide margin. How-
pany can, however, estimate the chances Participation is easier for big compa- ever, whether these benefits are actually
for success. nies, but one of our cases shows how a reaped is another issue. If not, then only
So there is a certain chance of achieving company with less than 100 employees the costs remain, plus the pleasant – or
a desired outcome (with an estimation of managed to influence a European stand- for some, frustrating – experience of be-
the benefits) and a chance of failure (with ard. This has paved the way for the coming involved. 
an estimation of the losses). Based on this pany to export to other European Union
data, the company can make a decision. countries, resulting in a huge increase in
In cooperation with Dutch industry, sales.
we have developed and applied a method About the author
to calculate the outcome, using these as- Societal benefits
sumptions and also taking into account Dr. Henk J.
interest rates (costs precede benefits, and So far, this article has taken the view of de Vries is Asso-
the required money might be put to use a “ selfish ” business position for a single ciate Professor of
elsewhere). With the method, we are able company. An alternative is to defend the Standardization
to calculate costs and benefits on an an- interests of a group of stakeholders, or a at the Rotterdam
nual basis. The number of years is lim- common national position. Then the same School of Mana-
ited because the standard may be revised cost-benefit approach can be used, but gement, Erasmus
again, and of course, the market situation costs and benefits are shared. University, in Rot-
may change. In short, everything is based ISO tends to emphasize the common terdam, the Nether-
on assumptions, so it is advisable to re- benefits for business and society. For lands. His education and research focus on
calculate after a year or so to determine example, a company’s involvement may standardization from a business point of
if it is still worth the effort to continue further technological development, en- view. He is Vice-President of the European
participation. sure the smooth functioning of a busi- Academy for Standardization (EURAS)
The cases we studied show more ben- ness sector as a whole, provide consum- and Special Adviser to the International
efits from increased market share than ers with the desired benefits or more Federation of Standards Users (IFAN). His
from cheaper production. And there can generally, contribute to sustainability. teaching activities include an executive
be other good reasons for participation Also in such cases it is possible to make course on achieving business goals by par-
as well, such as the opportunity to come calculations, but questions arise around ticipation in international standardization.
into contact with experts who share the whether a given company’s contribution See www.rsm.nl/hdevries.

Planet ISO Planet ISO
ISO Secretary-General visits India

and Egypt
In a recent visit to India, ISO Secretary-
General Rob Steele met representatives of
the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), its
head, Sharad Gupta, and key officials, in-
cluding the Secretary of Consumer Affairs
in the Indian Government.
During his visit, the ISO Secretary-
General emphasized that economic growth,
environmental integrity and social equity
emanated from the adoption of standards.
He spoke to industry members in a seminar
“ Strengthening industry’s participation in
International Standards development ”, held
by the Confederation of Indian Industry
with BIS in New Delhi. Participants at the South Asian ISO e-services course in Sri Lanka.
Issues of quality, sustainable develop-
ment, efficient resource allocation, bridging stakeholders, which is built on three key have developed a variety of initiatives con-
the knowledge gap and innovation, linking components : tributing to encourage them to share their
to global supply chains in support of multi- • ISO committee working environment knowledge, experience and expertise in this
lateral trade were also discussed. (ISOTC server – electronic committees), domain.
Mr. Steele then travelled to Egypt to take where most ISO technical documents are This WSC Academic Week was con-
part in a high-level programme organized by initially located ceived by ISO, IEC and ITU as a way to
the Egyptian Organization for Standardiza- • ISO’s user and role management system promote the dialogue between academic
tion and Quality (EOS). He met the Minister (Global Directory), through which us- institutions and the International Standards
of Commerce for Egypt ; Galal El Zourba, ers are given access to ISO and national community, to raise awareness and to foster
Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian committees cooperation and possible joint initiatives.
Industries ; Mohamed El Masry, Chairman The annual workshop of the International
• National mirror committee environment
of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Cooperation on Education about Stand-
(ISONMC server), which provides nation-
Commerce ; and Ali Moussa, Chairman of ardization (ICES) – an informal group of
al stakeholders access to ISO documents.
the Cairo Chamber of Commerce. academic institutions that share significant
The ISO Secretary-General and EOS Commenting on the outcome, Reinhard interests and activities in the standards field
Chairman Dr. Eng. Hany Barakat took part Weissinger, Manager, Research, Education – will also take place during the week.
in a live panel discussion on Nile television and Strategy, ISO Central Secretariat, ex-
and a seminar on standards issues organ- plained : “ The fact that the focus of the course Sustainability in event management
ized in conjunction with the Federation of was given to the NMC document dissemina-
Egyptian Industries which attracted over The breadth of international support for
tion service reflects participants’ interest. It
300 participants. A meeting with the senior the development of the future ISO 20121
also signifies the key importance of this serv-
management of EOS concluded Mr. Steele’s standard giving guidance on sustainability
ice, particularly for developing countries. ”
visit to Egypt. in event management was demonstrated at
The course was well received and con-
ducted in a very constructive and lively at- the 2nd plenary meeting of the ISO project
committee developing the standard (ISO/
E-services course in South Asia mosphere which also involved much inter-
PC 250), held in Paris, France, in April
action and sharing of experiences between
ISO e-services are intended to provide participants. 2010.
instant access to ISO documents and appli- As a follow-up to the course, ISO/CS “ International experts have made signifi-
cations for individual experts and member provided additional support and advice to cant contribution to the development of ISO
countries around the world. They enable facilitate the uptake of the services for na- 20121, ” pointed out the Chair of ISO/PC
experts to contribute to the development tional stakeholders and for their increased 250 Fiona Pelham. “ The general consensus
of ISO standards, and allow ISO members involvement in the ISO standards develop- is that ISO 20121 will be a strong, useful
to provide consolidated input. To spread ment process. and useable International Standard. ”
knowledge about their use, a course on The meeting was also attended by indus-
ISO’s electronic services was held in Co- try liaisons including Meeting Professionals
lombo, Sri Lanka, in March 2010.
Academic week International, the Green Meetings Industry
Organized by the ISO member for Sri The World Standards Cooperation – the Council and the Global Association of the
Lanka (SLSI), the course was attended by coordination entity of ISO, IEC and ITU – Exhibition Industry (UFI).
all South Asian ISO members, including will hold its first-ever Academic Week on The standard will be applicable to any
Afghanistan (ANSA), Bangladesh (BSTI), 5-9 July 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. organization working within the event in-
Bhutan (SQCA), India (BIS), Iran (ISIRI), ISO, IEC and ITU recognize the funda- dustry. It will take a management systems
Nepal (NBSM), Pakistan (PSQCA), and Sri mental contribution that educational in- approach requiring identification of key
Lanka (SLSI). stitutions can give on teaching the value sustainability issues like venue selection,
SLSI Director General Dr. Lalith Sen- of international standardization. Further- operating procedures, supply chain manage-
aweera and course organizer Ms. Anula Ten- more, they fully appreciate how the work ment, procurement, communications, trans-
nakoon opened the course, which provided of academia on the cutting edge of research port, and others.
a comprehensive overview of the electronic and technology can benefit the development ISO 20121 will increase transparency
services operated by ISO. of standards. through the event management industry. It
Special focus was given to the dissemina- The three organizations are keen to sup- is expected to be finalized in 2012 to coin-
tion service of ISO documents to national port these institutions in their efforts and cide with the London Olympics. 

Management Solutions
Small businesses
and ISO 9001
Photo :P. Granier/ ISO
by Denise E. Robitaille The unfortunate fact is that many of the

obstacles reflect perception rather than
ISO has just published the latest edition of its highly successful actuality. Smaller organizations just do
not think they can comply – or they have
handbook, The latest edition of ISO 9001 for Small Businesses – a genuine concern about the amount of re-
What to do : Advice from ISO/TC 176. Since ISO 9001 is a generic sources that will be needed to implement
and maintain the system. They are over-
standard with broad applicability, this raises the question : “ Why do whelmed and confused.
we need this handbook ? ” Beyond the spectre of the large and
amorphous implementation project itself is
While it is true that the requirements zations in non-manufacturing environ- a perception that many of the requirements
of ISO 9001:2008 apply equally well to ments to understand how the standard simply do not apply to their organization.
diverse organizations, smaller businesses can work for them or be a benefit to their The often heard concern is : “ We don’t do
encounter challenges that are not shared enterprise. a lot of this stuff.”
by larger enterprises. For example, they By “ stuff ” they’re referring to things like
have fewer employees and often less Unnecessary obstacles continual improvement, analysis of data,
complicated processes. validation of processes and preventive ac-
Also, when the standard was origi- These challenges create unnecessary tion. They have been misled to believe that,
nally conceived, the largest segment of obstacles of such magnitude that they can in order to comply, they must add complex
users was manufacturers ; so, much of sway the top management of an organiza- and expensive processes and hire specialists
what was published over the years relat- tion to abandon any attempt at implemen- to manage this monster called “ ISO 9001.”
ed to larger industrial enterprises. This tation of an ISO 9001-conforming quality Many of them do business with large
can make it difficult for smaller organi- management system. organizations who have quality managers

1 It dispels the myth that the only

organizations who can really do
this “ ISO stuff ” are the big guys.
The proliferation of literature on ISO
9001 and management system standards
in general can be daunting for even larger
organizations. There is little guidance to
assist smaller enterprises in understand-
ing : what is required, what is useful, what
will be helpful as (or when) they grow,
and what is pure nonsense. They need to
know what the requirements are and they
need to be reassured that they can imple-
ment an effective system.
The handbook provides
step-by-step instructions.
2 It demonstrates the broad and
achievable applicability across
multiple sectors and markets.
ISO 9001 has expanded not only in
the number of users but also in the vari-
ety of organizations using the standard.
About the handbook It is helpful to see examples of how the
standard is applied in what were once
ISO 9001 for Small Businesses considered non-traditional applications.
It reinforces the fact that ISO 9001 can be
– What to do : Advice from
successfully implemented across a broad
ISO/TC 176 is published by range of fields and industries.
ISO in English (165 pages) and 30.04.2010
10:10:38
French (173 pages) editions,

A5 format, ring binder. It is
ISO9001
April E.ind
d 1
p rocesses) are appropriate for large enter- 3 It describes the purpose of the
standard and how it works.
available from ISO national prises. When the product is being manu- There is still a great deal of myth that
factured by the millions every day, activi- surrounds ISO 9001. Individuals are still
member institutes (listed with ties like SPC and other data gathering and unfamiliar with how it works. They are
contact details on the ISO analysis tools are essential. concerned that initiating an implementa-
Web site www.iso.org). It may tion project will put them under the scru-
also be obtained directly from Less complicated tiny of a regulatory agency and deprive
them of control of their own destiny. They
the ISO Central Secretariat If you are a smaller enterprise, then
are afraid someone will try to dictate how
(sales@iso.org). gathering data should be proportionally
they conduct their business. The handbook
less complicated. Simple charts, filled out
explains the how and why of ISO 9001. It
by hand, or basic spreadsheets will serve
also provides step-by-step instructions for
and technicians and Six Sigma Black Belts equally well.
the implementation project.
and project champions, not to mention Continual improvement does not have
software programmes to track data, cal- to be a major Kaizen event. It can be
culate Cpk (process capability index)and
generate statistical process control (SPC)
realized by decreasing late deliveries,
responding more quickly to customer
4 It discusses the certification
process.
charts. How is a three-person industrial requests for quotation, improving the The certification process is similarly
distributor of fasteners, or a 12-person de- lighting in a work area, or increasing shrouded in misconception. This is un-
livery service, or a five-person independent the number of employees who are cross- fortunate as it leaves many users believ-
test lab supposed to compete with that kind trained. ing that they have no rights or options in
of “ firepower ”? The whole concept of a Often times we find that many of the the assessment and certification process.
global generic standard seems laughable in requirements that appear to baffle these A pall of resentment and distrust can per-
the face of this apparent contradiction. smaller organizations relate to things that vade a client/certification body (CB) re-
And yet, the fact is that it is not only they are already doing. It is simply a mat- lationship for years. Small organizations
possible, but feasible and beneficial to ter of understanding the language and in- are particularly intimidated by the proc-
implement an ISO 9001 quality manage- tent of the standard. ess because the need for them to attain
ment system. Many of the specialists em- This is where the handbook for small ISO 9001 certification is often driven by
ployed in larger organizations (with their businesses can be useful. It serves several a client who may even recommend a spe-
attending arsenal of statistically valid purposes. cific certification body.

6 It includes numerous examples to
help the readers understand the
requirement and how to apply
them effectively.
The quantity and diversity of examples
scattered throughout the book are prob-
ably its hallmark. This, more than any
other feature mentioned, make this book
indispensible to small businesses.
It does not create any

additional requirements.
The examples provide users the neces-

sary information so they can better visu-
alize how to apply a requirement. They
again reinforce the generic nature and
broad applicability of the standard and
serve to reassure users that they can im-
plement an effective ISO 9001 quality
management system.
The handbook does not create any addi-
tional requirements. It does not purport to
have all the answers or to provide exam-
ples for every conceivable contingency.
What it does do is provide the necessary
guidance from the technical experts who
utilize ISO 9001 regularly to help organi-
zations better use one of the best stand-
ards every issued by ISO. 
About the author
Denise E.
Robitaille helps
organizations
implement and
maintain ISO 9001
We need to allay the concerns of po- forward. They are simple and clear. Others quality manage-
tential clients and ensure that they un- have been the subject of misinterpretation ment systems. The
derstand that CBs are contracted to as- for years and continue to contribute to con- author is a certi-
sess conformity to the requirements of fusion among users. The handbook covers fied lead assessor,
ISO 9001. They do not have the right all requirements in detail and in language certified quality auditor and Fellow of the
to mandate how they conduct their that is intelligible and relevant to small American Society for Quality. She is also
business. The process for selecting a businesses. Vice Chair of the US Technical Advisory
certification body is discussed in the This also provides an opportunity to Group to ISO/TC 176, Quality manage-
handbook. discuss exclusions. Many businesses do ment and quality assurance, and has ser-
Clients’ understanding of the certi- not conduct design or handle customer- ved on several of its working groups. She
fication process and the roll of the CBs owned material or have a need to calibrate was convener of the task group responsi-
should ultimately serve to strengthen the equipment. In the absence of clear guid- ble for the revision to the latest edition of
underlying integrity of conformity assess- ance, they will attempt to comply with ISO 9001 for Small Businesses – What to
ment internationally. requirements that do not apply to their do : Advice from ISO/TC 176. In addition,
organization. Or, conversely, they may she is the author of numerous articles and
5 It provides detailed explanation
of each of the requirements.
assume that they may claim an exclusion,
when in actuality they have an outsourced
several books, including The Corrective
Action Handbook and a co-author of
This is a valuable feature of the hand- process for which they must assume some the Insiders Guide to ISO 9001:2008,
book. Some requirements are quite straight- level of control. published by Paton Professional.

Phone recycling phones of all personal data beforehand.

Alternatively, they can mail their mobile
Mobile phones, pagers, smartphones,
wireless PDAs, external aircards, head-
with ISO 14001 devices at no cost using a prepaid ship-
ping label.
sets, chargers, batteries and other acces-
sories are all accepted at Recycle My Cell
collection sites, or through the mail-back
by Garry Lambert
ISO 14001 certified option, regardless of brand, model or age,
Canadians now have an easy and en- working or non-working.
vironmentally friendly way of recycling “ All of the companies involved with The devices are then sent to recycling
their old mobile phones in a free “ Recycle the Recycle My Cell programme are ISO facilities where they are refurbished or
My Cell ” programme, a national indus- 14001-certified or certified under Elec- dismantled for scrap. The scrap materials
try initiative organized by the Canadian tronic Product Stewardship Canada’s Re- are used to produce new mobile devices
Wireless Telecommunications Associa- cycling Vendor Qualification Programme. and a variety of other items. More than
tion (CWTA) in conjunction with ISO Their environmental management sys- 95 % of the materials in an average mo-
14001-certified cellphone service provid- tems guarantee accountability of the bile device are recyclable.
ers, handset manufacturers and recycling environmental impacts associated with A donation to participating charities is
companies across the country. recycling, ” said Bernard Lord, CWTA made for each device returned through
The goal of the Web-based programme President and CEO. the programme. Some of the benefit-
at www.recyclemycell.ca is to raise According to CWTA, Recycle My Cell ing charities include the World Wild-
awareness of the importance of cellphone has been made possible by participation life Fund, Tree Canada and Food Banks
recycling, and keep handsets from en- from Bell, Greentec, Motorola, MTS, Canada.
tering Canada’s landfills. Visitors to the Nokia, ReCellular, Research in Motion,
Website are directed to a list of the 10 Rogers Communication, Samsung, Sask-
closest cellphone recycling drop-off sites, Tel, Sony Ericsson, TbayTel, Telus, Vid- Garry Lambert is a British freelance journalist
and given instructions for cleaning their eotron and Virgin Mobile Canada. based in Switzerland.
Photo : Lionel Egger/ISO
Thousands of old mobile phones are now being recycled in Canada’s free “ Recycle My Cell ” programme, organized by the Canadian Wireless
Telecommunications Association in conjunction with ISO 14001-certified cellphone service providers, handset manufacturers and recycling
companies.

Indian builder
tackles
GHG with ISO
14064 – One of
country’s first
certifications
by Garry Lambert
Road and bridge constructor Ashoka

Buildcon has become one of the first
organizations in India to have its green- ISO 14064-certified Ashoka Buildcon was awarded “ Best Innovative Idea for 2009 ” by
house gas (GHG) emissions independent- CNBC-18 TV channel for the design and construction of this arch underpass to the NH-06
Nagpur to Durg highway in India.
ly monitored and reviewed on a regular
basis, by achieving certification to ISO Ashoka reports that employee aware- greenhouse gas emissions independently
14064-1:2006, the International Standard ness of the ISO 14064 project is good, monitored and reviewed on a regular
for GHG quantification and reporting. with many directly involved in the moni- basis.
The news follows the Indian Govern- toring and measuring of GHG sources. “ Ashoka’s move to gain ISO 14064
ment’s December 2009 announcement Employees are also involved in the re- certification sends a clear message to sup-
that it would slow the growth of the na- view process following any changes to pliers and other public sector organiza-
tion’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. the company’s emission results. tions that they too will soon have to meet
ISO 14064-1:2006, Greenhouse gases – the international benchmark. Being inde-
Part 1 : Specification with guidance at the
Example to follow pendently audited ensures the company’s
organization level for quantification and emissions report is accurate, complete,
reporting of greenhouse gas emissions Certification, by Australian-based In- reliable and transparent.”
and removals, includes requirements for ternational Standards Certifications (ISC), ISC conducted a rigorous audit process
the design, development, management, is an achievement for Ashoka, given that, to verify the company’s records and meet
reporting and verification of an organiza- so far, relatively few companies have ISO 14064 audit criteria. Under the stand-
tion’s GHG inventory. obtained certification to this standard. ard’s requirements, Ashoka identified its
An Ashoka company spokesperson told Certification is not a requirement of the organizational and operational bounda-
ISO Focus+ : “ Ashoka has established standard, which can be impemented sole-
ries, i.e. the road construction project,
2009 as its base year for GHG inventory ly for the internal and exerternal benefits
plant and toll operations divisions, and
in accordance with its policy of measur- it brings to the user organization.
limited the scope of its ISO 14064-based
ing, monitoring and minimizing its GHG “ Ashoka Buildcon and other large or-
system to direct emission and energy
inventory. The GHG inventory for the ganizations in India will play a critical
indirect.
base year is 11 158 tonnes of CO2 under role in the country’s response to climate
direct emissions and 409 tonnes of CO2 change. Ashoka’s leadership position on
under energy indirect emissions. ” this issue places it at the forefront of glo- Integrated management
bal business and sets an example for all to systems
follow, ” ISC CEO and Group President In 2007, Ashoka Buildcon was one of
Tony Wilde commented. the first companies in India to be award-
“ Businesses like Ashoka which tackle ed certification to ISO 9001:2000, ISO
this issue head-on are well placed in the 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007.
face of an emerging global carbon econo- The company has integrated these
my, where carbon trading is increasingly quality, environmental and occupational
taking place in international markets, ” health and safety management systems
“ While global consensus on carbon emis- to cover the design, development, and
sions targets seem a way off, it is fast be- construction of roads, bridges, industrial
coming an imperative for organizations in buildings, residential and commercial
the energy, building and construction sec- complexes, the production and sale of
tors to ensure their greenhouse emissions ready-mix concrete, and the operation and
disclosure is credible and independently maintenance of road infrastructure, power
The first pre-cast concrete elements of the verifiable to an international recognized
new Arch Underpass to Indian National transmission and distribution projects. 
standard. In achieving the benchmark,
Highway NH-06, built by Ashoka Buildcon,
are moved into place within the scope of its “ Ashoka Buildcon has become one of Garry Lambert is a British freelance journalist
ISO 14064-based GHG reporting system. the first organizations in India to have its based in Switzerland.

360° 360°
1.2 billion by 2050. With the rapid eco-
On the road
nomic growth concentrated in the devel-
oping world – and especially the BRIC
countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and Chi-
na) – the current trend is expected to gen-
Brake standards for safer

erate a three-fold increase in the number
of vehicles by 2020 compared to 1995 in
vehicles
those countries.
But this social and technical develop-
ment comes with an unacceptable price to
society : 1.3 million deaths per year, 90 %
which occur in developing countries.
Some 37 000 people die each year in
traffic accidents in the USA, and almost
700 per day in India. Injury estimates
range as high as 50 million per year
worldwide. Without concerted efforts by
governments and industry, traffic acci-
dents will be the leading cause of death
among children aged five to 14 by 2015.
Without concerted
efforts, traffic accidents
will be the leading cause
of death among children
aged five to 14 by 2015.
In the USA, a motorcyclist involved in

a crash with a passenger car is almost 40
times more likely to die than the driver
of the automobile. A passenger car driver
by Harald Abendroth, Yosuke Sasaki and Carlos Agudelo colliding with a heavy truck is almost five
times more likely to die. The economic
T he braking and steering systems found in modern cars and trucks

cost of traffic accidents is estimated to
exceed USD 500 billion each year, with
are crucial to allowing drivers to remain in control of the speed and more than 200 billion of those in the
direction of the vehicle while avoiding hazards. USA
But European statistics show that it is
possible to achieve better safety. Sweden’s
Increasingly integrated with vehicle ronmental effects, mechanical proper- VisionZero programme, for instance, is
electronics, braking and steering controls ties, and noise, vibration and harshness at least partly responsible for a dramatic
are the most significant active safety sys- (NVH). Normal brake operating tempera- reduction in traffic fatalities among chil-
tems in today’s vehicles, and they prevent tures are in the range of 150-300°C, but dren – from some 1 300 deaths per year
injuries and property damage everywhere brakes must be able to function at unusual in the mid-1960s to 397 in 2008 – despite
in the world. This is why international temperatures as well – up to 800°C under a significant population increase and far
technical and regulatory bodies focus so heavy loads or during mountain driving. more vehicles on the roads.
much on the performance of these sys- Some brake linings last as much as Aiming to curb these damaging trends to
tems and their critical components. 100 000 km when driving on paved, the economy and society as a whole, ISO
Whether they are drum or disc type, smooth highways, while others may re- has joined several long-term programmes
the friction brakes used in today’s cars quire replacement almost every month on together with the United Nation’s Global
and trucks are crucial to vehicle and road a taxicab driving on hilly roads. Ministerial Conference on Road Safety,
safety. Friction materials work every time the World Forum for Harmonization of
a driver needs to slow a vehicle, come to a Industry and societal impact Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and the
complete standstill, keep the speed stable World Health Organization (WHO).
when going downhill, or hold a vehicle An estimated 600 million vehicles were The successful implementation of road
stationary on a grade. on the world’s roads in 2008, helping to safety policies and programmes requires
Developers of friction brake linings move people and the economy every day the systematic development and continu-
must also consider durability, envi- – and that figure is projected to double to ous quality control of friction materials

(disc brake pads and drum brakes fitted on Photo : Link Engineering Co.
every passenger car, truck, and commer-
cial vehicle) using International Stand-
ards. To accomplish this, more than 100
experts and engineers from around the
world developed the ISO 15484 standard
over the course of almost 10 years.
Benefits and objectives

With millions of brake jobs performed
each year around the world, and more
than 70 % of the friction materials com-
ing from overseas, regulatory bodies are
taking a variety of specific steps.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration in the USA published
Recommended Best Importer Practices
to Enhance the Safety of Imported Mo-
tor Vehicles and Equipment, and the UN
Brake assembly for commercial vehicle fitted with drum air brakes.
Economic Commission for Europe works
to improve the safety of the entire braking
Photo : Link Engineering Co.
system in new vehicles and replacement
friction materials through its Regulations
13 and 90. ECE Reg. No 90 may soon in-
clude brake rotors and brake drums.
Governmental and regulatory efforts
find strong support with specific test pro-
cedures and the testing process from ISO
15484:2008, Road vehicles – Brake lin-
ing friction materials – Product definition
and quality assurance, when applied in
coordination with ISO/TS 16949:2009,
Particular requirements for the applica-
tion of ISO 9001:2008 for automotive
production and relevant service part
organizations.
ISO 15484 emphasizes testing and
evaluation during manufacturing, with its
main aims falling into three categories : Brake assembly for commercial vehicle fitted with disc air brakes.
• To ensure the product is verified dur-
ing the manufacturing process (visual commercial vehicles), suppliers and
ing all project phases for transfer into
inspection, verification of critical dimen- test systems vendors from Europe, the
regular production
sions, compressibility of brake pads and Americas, and Asia
• To increase the product’s reliability lining, shear strength, density, porosity, • Implementation of practical testing
while limiting costs associated with pH-index, strength of bonded noise insu- activities to methodically assess the
the different test standards lators, and flexural strength). These issues technical requirements of friction
• To identify the necessary test proce- received special attention from the vari- materials.
dures to assess performance, durabil- ous sub-working groups – some of which
ity, noise and other properties for are still very active.
the main vehicle applications and Several elements were critical to the
More than 30 different
categories. success of this effort : national and international
• A reliance on proven test procedures test procedures had to
One item that remained as a focus point
during the development of ISO 15484 was
supplied by leading manufacturers and be agreed upon.
technical services providers
the need to make the entire process more
efficient and realistic for manufacturing • Open and public discussion of the Some examples of the practical uses of
operations that operate with a global cus- different engineering, managerial, and ISO 15484 include :
tomer base. technical aspects of the protocols • Systematic reduction of noise issues
This is why the standard emphasizes • Wide and direct participation of vehi- that require warranty payouts of mil-
testing and physical measurements dur- cle manufacturers (passenger cars and lions of dollars each year

360°
• Assessment of brake performance to

comply with the reduced stopping
distance of FMVSS 121 for air-braked
vehicles in the USA
• Enhance the testing methods used
during conformity assessment for
replacement friction materials coming
into North American and European
Union markets
• Support the development of “ green ”
formulations that reduce or eliminate
heavy metals and pollutants in run-off
water and roadside debris
• Improve friction material consistency
as part of the successful implementa-
tion of lateral stability control ISO
standards for commercial vehicles
in the EU and passenger cars per the
FMVSS 126 in the USA.
Typical brake system layout.

Modern specification
ISO/TC 22/SC 2/WG 2, Brake Linings,
was established in 2001 to work towards
the development of a modern specifica-
tions for brake lining friction material. In
this effort, some 40 companies and 100
engineers developed or revised more than
30 ISO and SAE standards.
ISO 15484:2008, Road vehicles – Brake
lining friction materials – Product defini-
tion and quality assurance, is an umbrella
specification that recommends systematic
friction materials development, product
releases and manufacturing practices.
ISO 15484 also includes a number of
test procedures and methods not available
before as International Standards. The
Assorted friction materials for different automotive applications. organization is based around the world’s
About the authors
Harald Abendroth Yosuke Sasaki Carlos Agudelo is

is Chair of ISO/ retired from Akebo- Chief Engineer for
TC 22/SC 2/WG 2, no Brake Industry, Laboratory Testing
Friction materials. Co., Ltd. in 2009, at Link Enginee-
Prior to becoming and has served as ring Company of
a consultant, he Japan expert of Detroit, Michigan.
was the Director of JSAE for ISO/TC Link designs and
Test and NVH at 22/SC 2/WG 2, manufactures
Honeywell Friction Friction materials, testing systems and
Materials for 30 years. Mr. Abendroth for seven years. Mr. Sasaki was an R&D provides third-party testing for brake and
has contributed to the development of Engineer for Friction Materials at Akebono transmission. Mr. Agudelo manages brake
numerous test standards used throughout Group for 43 years. He co-chaired the laboratory testing ; participates on several
the industry. friction materials subcommittee of JSAE SAE, ISO committees, and is a liaison to
harald.abendroth@gmail.com for 2 years and was an active member for ISO/TC 22/SC 2/WG 2.
13 years. yosasaki@poplar.ocn.ne.jp c.agudelo@linkeng.com

major vehicle manufacturing regions :
Europe, North America and Japan.
ISO/TC 22/SC 2/WG 2 has received
strong support from the Federation of Eu-
ropean Manufacturers of Friction Materi-
als (FEMFM), the German Association
of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the
European Noise Working Group (EKB),
the US Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE), the Society of Automotive Engi-
neers of Japan (JSAE) and Japan Auto
Parts Industries Association (JAPIA).
Some 40 companies have participated in
the work.
The development work was coordi-
nated by the Strategic Advisory Group
(with representatives from Europe, North
America, and Japan) and six sub-working
groups (product definition and assurance,
visual inspection, physical and chemical
characterization, friction and wear, salt,
corrosion and ageing, and NVH).
Road safety requires

the systematic
development of
friction materials using
International Standards. Photo : Link Engineering Co.
Passenger car brake during thermal fatigue testing on a dynamometer

Predecessors of ISO/TC 22/SC 2 WG 2
in Europe include Eurospec, GlobalSpec,
FEMFM Catalogue of Characteristic ISO/TC 22/SC 2/WG 2 has indicated, groups (VDA and EKB in Europe, SAE
Features for Friction Material, as well as some of the practical applications of in the USA, and JSAE/JAPIA in Japan)
national automotive standards and rec- ISO 15484 and its procedures and proc- include :
ommended practice from the USA and esses include : • Test variability and proficiency for
Japan. • Development of the military speci- dynamometer performance
More than 30 different national and fication ATPD 2354A for US Army • Standardized computer file format and
international test procedures had to be vehicles exchange
agreed upon under ISO 15484, and sev- • Major revisions of product validation • Development of new test methods for
eral SAE and ISO test procedures were schemes for aftermarket suppliers low-preload compressibility and low-
developed or revised for further harmoni- load for pedal-feel and noise propen-
• Updates to internal product evaluation
zation with other International Standards. sity assessment
plans for several vehicle manufacturers
Among these testing and inspection
protocols are visual inspection and meas- • Development of standards protocols to • Development of a low-frequency noise
simplify the exchange and transfer of inertia-dynamometer test procedure
urements, certain corrosion effects, brak-
ing performance, wear resistance, squeal engineering results among car manu- • Standardized inertia calculations
noise, and physical properties under dif- facturers, brake suppliers, and testing • Crack and strength inertia-dynamome-
ferent thermal conditions. facilities ter testing for brake rotors and drums
• Support for new and more robust • Several enhanced tests for noise
Applications conformity assessment programs with insulators.
detailed test plans covering a wide
Work on ISO 15484 has led to the range of product characteristics and VDA in Germany, the SAE Annual
creation of a global community of requirements. Brake Colloquium in the USA, and JSAE/
brake-friction testing engineers. This JAPIA in Japan, provide the venues for
group should remain intact and active regular industry meetings to prioritize
Current efforts
for future assignments after completion industry efforts and ensure proper align-
of its tasks within the current standard Some current projects within ISO/TC ment of developments and technical
development process. As the Chair of 22/SC 2/WG 2 or in parallel industry resources. 

360°
Analyzing common features

In 2008, ISO/TC 211, Geographic infor-
mation/Geomatics, arranged a workshop,
hosted and sponsored by the Danish Na-
tional Survey and Cadastre, which looked
at issues related to the development of an
International Standard for addresses. Sub-
sequently, ISO 19160, Addressing, a stage
zero project for preliminary work on ad-
dress standardization was proposed and
approved, and a first project meeting was
held in November 2009 in Quebec, Cana-
da. The project has two objectives :
• Investigate and formulate requirements
in relation to addressing
• Make recommendations on whether
standards should be developed and if
so, how this should be done.
The project’s justification points out

that addresses lie between geographic in-
formation, electronic business and postal
systems, amongst others, and therefore,
quite a few stakeholders are involved.
Most of these either participate in, or are
More than
aware of, ISO 19160.
Standardizing addresses
location
streamlines the delivery
process.
What address standards In an attempt to identify common fea-

tures of addresses that require standardi-
tell us about addresses zation, we analyzed a number of address

definitions. Instead of finding individual
common features shared by all addresses,
we found, in the philosopher Wittgen-
stein’s words, a “ family resemblance ”.
We all use addresses to provide direction to a delivery point. In When comparing address definitions
from two English dictionaries and eight ad-
fact, the word “ address ” comes from the Latin directus, to direct. dress standards, we found that dictionaries
Postal systems for transporting written documents have been around tend to describe an address in the context of
sending or directing a piece of mail to a re-
since the invention of writing.
cipient. However, definitions in several ad-
dress standards do not refer to postal deliv-
In these early systems, letters were applications, tax collection and land ery at all. Some, for instance, refer to how a
hand delivered from source to destina- administration. location is identified, while others describe
tion. In Europe, street addresses were first Standardizing addresses streamlines what one would find at the location.
assigned in the 18th century when urban the delivery process, with well-docu- In the comparison above we found ref-
expansion created a need to identify indi- mented benefits for the economy, society erences to a road or thoroughfare in two
vidual buildings. and governance. Its benefits are not lim- definitions; “ postal ” or “ mail ” in three;
An address can be considered the de- ited to interoperability of existing address and “ addressee ” in one. While it is com-
scription of a location, not only for postal data, but also provide guidelines to coun- mon in many Euro-centric countries to
delivery, but for all kinds of distribution, tries that are still developing addressing reference a road network in the address,
ranging from physical services such as systems. addresses in countries such as Japan com-
utilities, goods and emergency dispatch, Some address standards are listed in prise a hierarchy of administrative areas
to more abstract services such as credit Table 1. without reference to a thoroughfare.

In comes an International not all) addresses is the description of a Address standards tell us that addresses
Standard delivery point, while a common similarity do not have a single common feature but
of detail is the reference to a place name rather a “ family resemblance ” : a com-
It seems as if all addresses have some- and/or reference to the road network plicated network of overall and common
thing in common, but what is it? The fact found in many addresses.
that an address describes a location is similarities of detail. ISO 19160 aims to
Addresses are one of the most common
not common (e.g. P.O. Box). Neither is identify the different sets of similarities
ways of describing a location and because
the delivery point a common feature : BS and to make recommendations on how to
of the network of similarities, there is
7666:2006 states that there is “ an object ” ample room for misunderstanding. The standardize them.
at the address, not a delivery point. Is an objective of ISO 19160 is to make rec- The full length version of this article, in-
address an object in itself, or is it a refer- ommendations on how to eliminate these cluding the authors’ biographies, is avail-
ence to which some other object, such as misunderstandings. One solution could be able in the ISO Focus+ section on ISO
a person or a building, is linked? A “ po- an overarching abstract address standard Online (www.iso.org/bonusarticles) 
tential delivery point ” (UPU S42) would comprising different parts, each address-
be a reference to which a recipient can be ing a different set of similarities, thus en-
linked in future, while a landmark address hancing the understanding of these simi- Serena Coetzee is project leader ISO 19160,
(SANS 1883:2009) assumes that there larities and improving interoperability. and Chair, ISO/TC 211’s programme maintenance
is an object (a landmark) at the address. UPU S42, for example, already in- group. Antony K Cooper (Convenor,
Alternatively, does an object, such as a cludes a well-defined set of postal address ISO/TC 211/WG 7, Information communities),
person or a building, have attributes to de- similarities. Another set of similarities Piotr Piotrowski, (UPU) and Morten Lind,
scribe it, one of which is the address? is the multitude of address-related terms (Denmark), are nominated project experts to
We conclude that addresses do not have and concepts. A reference model repre- ISO 19160. Ram Kumar is contributor to ISO 19160
a single common feature but rather a com- senting a common understanding of ad- on behalf of OASIS. Martha McCart Wells, Ed Wells,
plicated network of similarities overlap- dresses could illustrate the similarities, Nick Griffiths, Michael J Nicholson, Joe Lubenow,
ping and criss-crossing : sometimes over- and show connections to other existing Joe Lambert, Carl Anderson, Sara Yurman, and
all similarities, sometimes similarities of standards, standard committees and/or Ruth Jones contribute indirectly to ISO 19160
detail. An overall similarity in many (but organizations. through ISO member body nominated experts.
Standards Generating Body Technical Committee Name

British Standards Institution (BSI) IST/36, Geographic information BS7666:2006, Spatial datasets for
geographical referencing
Danish XML-committee (Joint OIOXML Core Component Working OIOXML Addresse guide
e-Gov data standards committee) Group (Address Guideline)
OIOXML Dokumentationsguide for
Adressepunkt (Guideline for Address
Point)
Infrastructure for Spatial Thematic Working Group on INSPIRE D2.8.1.5 Data Specification
Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Addresses on Addresses – Guidelines
Organization for the Advancement Customer Information Quality Name (xNL), Address (xAL), Name and
of Structured Information Systems Address (xNAL), Party (xPIL) and Party
(OASIS) Relationships (xPRL)
Standards Australia and Joint Technical Committee IT-004, AS/NZS 4819:2003, Geographic
Standards New Zealand Geographical Information information – rural and urban
addressing
South African Bureau of Standards SC71E, Geographic information SANS 1883:2009, Geographic
(SABS) information – Address
Universal Postal Union (UPU) Addressing Group S42 : International postal address
components and templates
S53 : Exchange of name and address
data
US Federal Geographic Data Address Standard Working Group United States Thoroughfare,
Committee (FGDC) Landmark, and Postal Address Data
Standard
Table 1 – Address standards.

360°
Managing utilities
Safe water Since its creation, the goal of ISO/TC 224

was to provide guidelines for the manage-
ment and assessment of service activities
carried out by water and wastewater utili-
Drinking and wastewater ties and not to develop elaborate technical
standards or to facilitate certification.
committee rides new wave The result of its work are three core
ISO standards published in 2007, provid-
ing tangible guidelines for all relevant au-
thorities, governing bodies, operators and
other stakeholders. Developed by experts
from more than 24 countries, with many
years of combined experience in water
supply and wastewater management, the
standards address :
• Assessment and improvement of serv-
ice to users (ISO 24510)
• Wastewater services (ISO 24511)
• Drinking water services (ISO 24512).
The three standards in the series were

conceived with a broad global application
in mind. Their guidelines are, therefore,
relevant to industrial, developing and
emerging economies. They are applicable
to countries with abundant water resourc-
es as well as those with scarce supplies.
The framework of these guidelines allows
for the selection of appropriate measures
for any situation, explicitly including the
plan – do – check – act cycle.
Unlike other infrastructure

ISO 24510, ISO 24511 and ISO 24512
state explicitly that the standards should
not be used for certification. Why? Man-
agement for drinking water and wastewa-
ter infrastructure must be undertaken ac-
cording to very unique criteria, differing
fundamentally from those for other kinds
of infrastructure because :
• Drinking water is a basic and non-sub-
Photo :P. Granier/ ISO
stitutable commodity necessary for life

• Safe drinking water is crucial for hu-
man health
• Safe handling, transport, treatment and
disposal or recycling of wastewater
by T. Duncan Ellison, Horst Schlicht, Karl J. Rohrhofer and Frederick is fundamentally important for public
M. Cate health
• As a public asset, water must be
The late 1990s saw the creation of ISO technical committee ISO/TC managed sustainably to meet quality
requirements
224, Service activities relating to drinking water supply systems and
• Water supply and wastewater systems
wastewater systems. Originally established to address drinking wa- are generally underground and not
ter and wastewater services, the scope has now expanded to address readily available for inspection as are
other pressing water management issues. other kinds of infrastructure

Pipeline renovation using close-fit technology.
Photo : Roland Rohrhofer
• Most of this infrastructure has an op-

erating life of 10 to 30 years, and may
remain in use for up to a century.
The certification of management ac-

tivities for these utilities is therefore not
a solution for the governing bodies and
operators who must find appropriate an-
swers for their specific systems. Certifi-
cation similar to ISO 9001 or ISO 14001
can only verify that a utility has taken
management issues into consideration,
but can never confirm that the utility has
a functioning asset or actual management
capability.
New ventures on appropriate solutions, and on how

such management structures could be
In 2006, ISO/TC 224 recognized that developed, and will not be applicable to
there was a need to deal with both as- certification. 
set management and crisis management.
Incidents such as natural disasters, acci-
dents or intentional disruptions affecting T. Duncan Ellison is Executive Director of the
water and wastewater systems can result Canadian Water and Wastewater Association. He is
in serious health threats and have enor- Expert and Co-Convenor of working groups in ISO/
mous economic implications. TC 224, and Chair of the Canadian mirror
committee.
It is therefore necessary to effectively Frederick M. Cate is Managing Director of Interival
address safety and security issues aris- ZT GmbH. He is an Austrian Expert in ISO/TC 224/
ing from both technological and non- WG 1, Terminology, and Chair of the Austrian mirror
technological causes. Following intensive committee for ISO/TC 224.
discussions, the work of ISO/TC 224 was Karl J. Rohrhofer, is Senior President of the
Consulting Group Rohrhofer & Partner. He has been
extended beyond service activities to also Austrian delegate to the European Standardization
address security matters. (CEN/TC 165) of Water and Wastewater since 1984.
The future ISO standards on asset man- He is the Austrian delegate in ISO/TC 224 and
agement and crisis management, which Co-Convenor of ISO/TC 224 working groups.
are now being developed by the com- Horst Schlicht is Civil Engineer at Gelsenwasser
AG. He is Convenor of ISO/TC 224/WG 6, Asset
mittee, will be in many ways similar to management, and Head of the Standardization
Pipeline renovation using curing-in-place ISO 24510, ISO 24511 and ISO 24512. Committee for Water Issues at the German
technology. Photo : Roland Rohrhofer. The standards will provide guidelines standards institute DIN.

New Releases New Releases
“ We hope all categories of toy manu-

Hazard-free and fun play facturers around the world will realize the
importance of ISO 8124. Our children’s
ISO toughens
safety depends on it ! ”
In an ongoing effort to toughen toy
safety, ISO technical committee ISO/
toy safety
TC 181, Safety of toys, has also updated
and improved the first two parts in the
series : Part 1 : Safety aspects related
to mechanical and physical properties,
in 2009 and Part 2 : Flammability, in
2007.
According to the Chair, the ISO 8124
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis series is expected to expand in the near
future with the addition of three more
Millions of toys have been recalled around the world because of new parts. These include :
• Total concentration of certain elements
hazardous levels of lead or cadmium, choking hazards, dangerous
in toy material
magnets and other safety hazards. Two new standards in the ISO
• Determination of phthalate plasticizers
8124 toy safety series aim to reduce the risk of a child being injured in plasticized material
by unsafe equipment or dangerous substances. • Fingerpaints.
“ There is no question that ISO 8124 is

a cornerstone of the global toy safety net-
work, ” said Arnie Rubin, CEO of Funrise
and President of the International Council
of Toy Industries, in a recent interview in
ISO’s magazine, ISO Focus+. “ Assuring
the safety of children has been our indus-
try’s priority.”
Published under the generic title, Safety
of toys, the ISO 8124 series of standards
are designed to minimize potential toy
hazards arising from their use in intended
play modes (normal use), as well as un-
intended play modes (reasonably foresee-
able abuse).
New to the series is ISO 8124-4:2010,
Safety of toys – Part 4 : Swings, slides
and similar activity toys for indoor and
outdoor family domestic use. The new
standard gives requirements and test
methods for swings, slides and many
other activity toys, thereby ensuring fun
and safe playtime. It applies to activity
toys used indoors and outdoors by chil- other materials possibly found in toys. ISO 8124-3:2010, Safety of toys –
dren under 14 years of age and in the ISO 8124-3:2010 replaces the previous Part 3 : Migration of certain elements, and
family context only. 1997 edition. ISO 8124-4:2010, Safety of toys – Part 4 :
Accident data together with risk anal- “ Fears about toy and product safety Swings, slides and similar activity toys
yses were the basis for improvements have ran rampant in recent years, with for indoor and outdoor family domes-
in a new version of ISO 8124-3:2010, far too many recalls of non-compliant tic use, are available from ISO national
Safety of toys – Part 3 : Migration of kids’ products, ” said Christian Wetter- member institutes (listed with contact de-
certain elements. The improved stand- berg, Chair of the ISO technical com- tails on the ISO Web site www.iso.org).
ard is intended to minimize children’s mittee responsible for the development They may also be obtained directly from
exposure to potentially toxic elements of the standards. “ ISO 8124 is a vital the ISO Central Secretariat, through the
by reducing the risk of harm if toys are safety standard and its use can reduce ISO Store or by contacting the Marketing,
ingested. It gives the maximum accept- the risk of harm, reduce access to a Communication and Information depart-
able levels of dangerous substances such hazard and reduce the severity of an ment (sales@iso.org). 
as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and injury. Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis is Editor, ISO Focus+.

Coming Up
Travel
Rwanda and food safety
Food industry companies across
Rwanda are participating in a series of
training seminars to encourage imple-
mentation of, and certification to, ISO
22000:2005, Food safety management
systems – Requirements for any organi-
zation in the food chain.
Starting in March, 2010, the training
programme, conducted by the United
Nations Industrial Development Or-
ganization (UNIDO) in collaboration
with the Rwanda Bureau of Standards
(RBS), aims at helping local enterpris-
es upgrade to ISO 22000, in a move to
help promote exports of Rwandan food
products.
“ISO 22000 is like a passport be-
cause products cannot be exported if
they don’t conform to it,” said Charles
Rutagyengwa, national coordinator of
the trade capacity building project un-
der UNIDO.
According to Athanasie Mukeshiya-
remye, Head of the Standards Unit at
RBS, two enterprises in Rwanda have
so far certified to ISO 22000 ; drinking
T he eruption of the Eyjafjallajokul
volcano in Iceland reminded us how in-
fices, diving, beaches, natural protected water bottler Sulfo Rwanda, and Sor-
wathé, a tea producer and exporter.
areas, health tourism and much more.
terconnected our world is. Holidaymak- ISO standards ensure that a certain Read all about this initiative in the
ers found themselves stranded in foreign level of quality and safety is applied glo- July/August 2010 issue of ISO Focus+.
countries or missing out on their dream bally, so no matter where travelers find
vacation. Businesspeople were unable to themselves, they can have confidence in
attend work events or return to the office. the products and services they use – for
Children missed out on school, relatives example, in hotels and restaurants around
were absent from weddings. Hundreds the world that use international fire safety
of thousands of passengers desperately and food safety standards.
sought alternatives means to get to their The use of ISO graphical public sym-
destination. Airlines lost billions, and bols helps travelers understand important
their losses affected other industries. Pro- information and safety messages despite
duction in some companies was brought language or literacy barriers. ISO stand-
to a halt. ards can also reduce the environmental
The chaos created by this fairly isolated impact of the travel industry, whose pol-
volcano gave us a glimpse of how impor- lution load can be significant, for exam-
tant travel is in today’s world. Whether for ple, through environmental management
fun or work, millions of people routinely standards, carbon footprint, lifecycle la-
move about the globe. And as the world belling and so on.
comes closer together, never have Inter- As the 2010 FIFA World Cup ap-
national Standards been more important. proaches, people from around the world
The July/August 2010 issue of ISO Fo- are getting ready to travel to South Af-
cus+ looks at ISO standards that facili- rica: football fans, organizers, journalists,
tate travel, for instance, by harmonizing national teams and many others. Their ex-
passport, visas and other travel document perience will be made easier and more en-
specifications. An ISO technical commit- joyable thanks to the ISO standards that,
tee dedicated to tourism services (ISO/TC although often unrecognized, are crucial
228) is currently working on standards for for facilitating travel. Find out more in
adventure tourism, tourist information of- the next issue of ISO Focus+.

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Volume 1, No.

6, June 2010, ISSN 1729-8709

© ISO, 2010. All rights reserved. Management Solutions

© ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+

Tools for leaders

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ST was among the first

In the past, Mr. Pistorio was a member

ISO Focus+ : In your view, what role do

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Photo : STMicroelectronics ISO/TS 16949 (quality management for

ISO Focus+ : Today, social responsibil-

harmonization. It’s definitely a positive

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In the past few years, a number of studies on the economic and

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The ISO Methodology

We standardizers are generally quite certain that our work gener-

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Transfer to refinery Product development

Interface from exploration to production is assessed

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Activities Impacts of standards on activies Causes of impact Categories of

chain covered by the company, and to

and key activities in relation to the crea-

Step 4 : Collect information and

tion of value. More efficient IT activities

Step 2 : Identify the impact of

and define key operational

At this point, the quantitative impact of

A comprehensive standards impact map

(see Figure 3) aims to determine the im-

pact resulting from the implementation

bilities that give a company a competitive

of standards on each of the main busi-

ness functions and associated activities.

Examples include a reduction in the time

impacts in the standards impact map.

required to perform a given activity (e.g.

the design of a product component), lower Availability of replacement components

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Functions of the Value Driver Tree Standards Impact Map

EBIT Selecting Production / Operations

understanding value Service

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Figure 6 – Key steps in impact assessment and supporting tools.

Industry sector level

Operational level ...

Business Unit/ ...

Observation level Data gathering, interpretation and validation challenge

Figure 7 – Levels of the impact assessment approach.

14 © ISO Focus+, www.iso.org/isofocus+ ISO Focus + June 2010

A variety of company cases were con-

Design & Parts Vehicles Distribution After-sales Used car Return/

core activities supporting activities core activities

Figure 9 – Automotive sector value chain and scope of study.

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Car Suppliers Engineering Dealers After-sales

Low impact Medium impact

High impact Focus of assessment