What are Standards?

Standards make things work. They are agreed way of doing something.

A standard may be designed for a product, process or a service to meet a certain criterion. In other words, a standard is a document that provides the specifications for a product. Standards play a vital role in industries and organizations which manufacture products. Standards are used to validate and test the quantity, quality and durability of a product or service. Some standards are used in daily lives to improve the quality of living while others are used by industries to manufacture goods. Standards are developed all around the world by standard developing organizations. For example, ISO is the largest standard developing organization in the world. Similarly, other standard developing organizations include ANSI, JISC, British standards.

Key Uses of Standards

Some key uses of standards are that they:

• Facilitate business interactions.
• Enable organizations to work in accordance with laws and regulations. 
• Speed up the development of innovative and creative products.
• Provide a standardized product that is good in terms of quality, performance and safety.

Standards ensure that the product or service made by different organizations is same and base upon a particular standard. Organizations use:

• A quality management standard aids to work efficiently and reduce failures in production.
• An environmental management standard to help to reduce pollution and wastage. 
• A health and safety standard to ensure the safety of workers in the industry and reduce risks of accidents

Standard Developing Organisations

Some Standard Developing Organisations include:

ISO (International Organization of Standardization)

ANSI (American National Standards Institute)

BS (British Standards)

DIN (German Institute for Standardization Standards)

JISC (Japanese Industrial Standards)

PSQCA (Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority)