American National Standards Institute The

Topics that will be covered What is the ANSI? What purpose does it serve in business? Why are standards and quality important in business?

Topics that will be covered What part does ISO have in the ANSI? How does the ANSI help businesses improve?

What are Standards? Standards help to achieve a goal of businesses, strategic standardization Strategic Standardization is essential to be innovative, reduce costs and improve quality

Why are Standards Important? Benefit to customers Make businesses more efficient Increase consumer confidence By adhering to a set of standards businesses are able to provide a product higher in quality, better safety, larger selection and at the same time becoming more efficient in the way it operates and lowering it costs thus improving profitability. Consumers are more satisfied when they have a product that is reliable, high quality and performs up to or beyond their expectations.

Standards Important to success of company Important in the retention and satisfaction of customers Must be implemented to compete internationally William J. Hudson, President and CEO of AMP Inc. stated, “The way companies address standards can be the difference between substantial profits and crippling loss. They should participate in - or at least follow - the activities of U.S. and global standards committees, such as those under the umbrella of the American National Standards Institute.”

International Standards Products are used in many different nations Must be able to function in other nations Standards important in world trade With many products being imported and exported to and from the United States it is important for countries to adopt standards with the numerous products that are available on the market. These products must be able to function and accepted by the people of that nation.

ANSI American branch of ISO Helps with the development of American National Standards Represents both private and public sector The ANSI does not develop the standards for businesses to follow. Rather, they provide forums and other services to help businesses and qualified individuals to get together and share their knowledge and what has worked for them and their businesses in the past. In 2001 there were 14,650 standards up 5.5% from the previous year.

ANSI Adoption of standards is voluntary Promotes voluntary consensus standards Promotes voluntary conformity assessment standards The ANSI does not enforce the adoption of standards. These standards are used by companies that choose to adopt them, they may choose to adopt them in order to gain a competitive advantage on their competition. Conformity assessment systems are steps taken by both manufacturers and third parties to judge conformance to standards. These establish confidence in the products and services purchased by the consumer.

Mission of the ANSI The Mission of the ANSI is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the quality of life in the U.S. They achieve this mission by working with international companies and other countries to ensure that they are able to remain competitive and that the American companies are delivering a high quality product that meets international standards.

Brainstorming Activity How can standards and the assistance of the ANSI help your organization become more efficient?

What is quality? ANSI defines quality as “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs” Any person you ask will have a different definition of what quality is or what they expect from a product when they purchase it. Everyone has different expectations of quality as far as how long a product should last and how the product should perform.

Dimensions of Quality Performance Features Reliability Conformance Durability Serviceability Aesthetics Safety Other perceptions These are the expectations a consumer has when he purchases a product. This list is also the reason why businesses adopt the standards that they do. They want to be able to deliver their products with the highest safety and durability that they possibly can.

ISO International Organization for Standardization Helps create global agreements on international quality standards Certifies suppliers to make sure they meet the international accepted standards for quality ISO is a global non-government organization that has the same function as ANSI only on a global level. The ANSI is on of the founding members of the International Organization for Standardization and one of the five members of the ISO governing board. With the ANSI, ISO has other national organizations that it governs such as the British Standards Institute (BSI) which governs the United Kingdom.

ISO ISO released the ISO 9000 standards in 1978 These standards link the world through one set of quality management systems standards. ISO 9000 was first adopted by twelve European countries including Germany, Greece, Spain and the United Kingdom. Now the standards have grown worldwide including being on continents such as Australia and South America

ISO 9000 Countries must adopt these standards in order to remain competitive Must receive ISO accreditation Private businesses have began to accept standards With all of the countries that have adopted the ISO 9000 standards it is important to be accredited in order to remain competitive in international markets. Many of these countries will now only accept materials from suppliers from other countries that are ISO 9000 accredited. In order to receive accreditation a certified assessor must come evaluate a company’s quality programs to see if it complies with the ISO 9000 standards. If it meets all of the requirements their name is put in a book for others to see that they have been accredited. Many private companies have started to adopt these standards. Companies such as DuPont, 3M and AT&T are all in compliance.

ISO 9000 ISO 9000 includes a series that is entitled “Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards for Selection and Use” ISO 9000-9004 are included Besides ISO 9000 there are 4 other components to the ISO series. ISO 9001, “Quality Systems-Model for Quality Assurance in Design/Development, Production, Installation, and Servicing.” ISO 9002, “Quality Systems-Model for Quality Assurance in Production and Installation”. This helps supplier that produce and install products. ISO 9003, “Quality Systems-Model for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test”. Finally, ISO 9004, “Quality Management and Quality Systems Elements-Guidelines”, this guideline helps to implement the previous three systems.

How does ANSI help? Creation of the ANSI Federation in 1918 Motto of the ANSI: Value, Integrity and Service The ANSI Federation was created in 1918 and is composed of manufacturing and service businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers and government agencies.

Motto of the ANSI Value ANSI federation provides a forum where companies can meet and discuss what to do to become more efficient Domestic and international companies can meet together to share ideas and develop standards to help them better serve each other as suppliers, the consumer and themselves. They share information on how to market internationally, improve quality and enhance their overall business.

Motto of the ANSI Integrity ANSI accredits standards developers to ensure procedures meet specific requirements Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB) Just like ISO, ANSI also accredits companies on the way that they meet standards. ANSI will evaluate a companies adherence to the standards and if met, they will be certified and others will be notified that the company complies with set standards. ANSI created an independent company that is an ISO 9000 registrar called the Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB) for the United States.

Motto of the ANSI Service Offers publications Provides training and consulting Websites and databases to other companies are available As a service to the organizations ANSI provides many different tools to help a company better achieve it’s goals. ANSI provides publications such as Standards Action and the ANSI Reporter. They have also created a website called the National Standards Systems Network (NSSN) which links the databases of hundreds of U.S. companies. Training and consulting in a variety of areas is also provided. All of these are offered in order to help companies create standards and achieve success.

Summary ANSI helps develop American National Standards Standards make businesses able to offer products to customers with higher quality and lower cost

Summary ISO is the international governing organization of standards Motto of ANSI: Value, Integrity and Service

References Russell, R., & Taylor III, B. (2000). “Operations Management.” Prentice Hall Inc. American National Standards Institute Online. WWW.ansi.org