DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22492, 29 August 1938, Page 3

DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS

NINE PRINCIPAL

ADVANTAGES

BENEFIT TO COMMUNITY

ANNUAL REPORT OF

INSTITUTE

Nine principal advantages to be obtained from the development of standards, and the three types of persons who benefit from their development are mentioned in the annual report of the pfew Zealand Standards Institute. The report says that the development of standards:— Cl) Defines the materials and processes which render production most efficient and economic.

(2) Effects economy, by concentrating purchases of the most suitable and efficient material, and by ensuring the successful development and application of technological advances. (3) Eliminates superfluous types, sizes, and designs, thys ensuring interchangeability of parts, with consequent reduction in maintenance charges and general economies in production and distribution costs.

(4) Eliminates danger hazards by means of the most competent selection of material or equipment on a basis of its pre-defined strength, quality, performance, capacity, and conditions of its use. (5) Affords convenience and efficiency through the better facilities and service provided by speciallyselected materials and equipment. (6) Aids general acquaintance with the use of equipment, and renders processes more automatic because of greater uniformity, the advantage of this being particularly expressed in certain specialised spheres, and in the transfer of operatives from unit to unit.

(7) Facilitates the ordering of supplies on a basis of national specifications in place of a multitude of indidual specifications, the preparation of which is costly, while their use leads to misunderstanding and conflict. It also places trade on a basis that is equitable and intelligible as between suppliers and between suppliers and purchasers. (8) Places on goods a registered quality distinction ascertained by independent experts, and ■ makes this available in a form that equips the average purchaser with a substantial degree of the discrimination of expert buyers. (9) Promotes and establishes public confidence in reliable advertising, labelling, or other description of goods, which excludes superficial and confusing elements because it is based upon intrinsic merit defined by national standards of quality and utility by which commodities, materials, and equipment may be made, tested, and sold.

The manufacturer benefited by decreased production and selling costs, smaller inventories, faster turnover, and consequently increased returns; the distributor .by the reduction of inventories to the lines that sell well, thus securing speedier turnover with lower overhead charges; and the ultimate consumer, by lower prices, general raising of quality of products, more and/or better goods at a given price.