![]() ![]() The ISA was suspended during the Second World War and then reconstituted in 1946 under its current name. Formed in 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA), it began as an international effort to standardize mechanical engineering components. International Organization for Standardization (ISO)īy far the largest force in the world today for standardization is the International Organization for Standardization ( ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland. As a result, multiple standards would emerge as prevalent for an industry or region, and typically one would be selected from those in use. ![]() Often, each industrial and business association and regional organization would advocate its own standard as the best practice over other, competitive standards. Later in the 1800s, the railroads and other businesses adopted standards for fasteners such as screw, bolt, and nut threads, in the interests of facilitating commerce. This era of voluntary industry standards dates back to the industrial revolution, when railroad companies began adopting standard rail gauges to facilitate interconnection of railways in the 1840s. And rather than being proclamations of the right way to do things, they are more often documentation of the best standard practices in the industry. Increasingly, though, these top-down standards are being replaced by voluntary industrial standards, which are controlled not by the government or the military but by industry associations and organizations. In the US photonics industry, most of our standards-such as the format of our optics drawings, the specification of roughness, and the ever contentious and misunderstood scratch-and-dig specification-began as top-down standards from the US military. Much of the bedrock of commerce, including trade rules and currency, began as top-down standards imposed by a controlling power. And yet, despite their ubiquity and utility, most people using these standards are only marginally aware of their existence, or that the standards used in the industry today are the result of the work of a handful of professionals. Optics specification, drawing, and metrology standards are an essential component of the optics and photonics industry. ![]() Standardization facilitates commerce and allows us to be more efficient in our work and in our lives. Standards are involved in everything we use, from the ATM cards in our pockets to the font shapes in this article. ![]()
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