Standardization News

 Throughout 2016, ASTM has been emphasizing how input from small and medium-sized enterprises is crucial to creating high-quality technical standards. We are highlighting the advantages SMEs gain by being members, such as our consensus-driven approach that gives them an equal voice and vote alongside representatives of larger companies. Halfway through the Year of the SME, here are some of the ways we have celebrated the role of small and medium-sized enterprises.

National Small Business Week

ASTM was a supporting cosponsor of National Small Business Week (May 1-7), which coincided with our May committee week in San Antonio, Texas. During that and other committee weeks this year, ASTM has held a panel discussion on the benefits of being a small business member.

As Katharine Morgan, ASTM's executive vice president, noted in a story published in the San Antonio Business Journal during Small Business Week, "Standards help SMEs do what they do best – drive innovation. The fact is that entrepreneurs and SMEs are often the first to introduce new production methods and technologies into the marketplace."

SME Executive Videos

To show how SMEs have benefited from their relationships with ASTM, a series of short interviews with SME executives has been produced. A playlist of six videos can be found at our YouTube page.

Success Stories

ASTM has been collecting comments and stories about the link between SMEs and ASTM standards, like the quote at left. To see how your company can leverage the power of ASTM standards, go to the success stories page.

www.astm.org/SME/Success.

For more information on the Year of the SME, visit here.

"Safety is the driving issue here, not money or corporate influence. In ASTM, a tiny company like mine has only one voting member, but major oil companies, airlines, and governments also have but one voting member. The system works and applies to everything around you. There are ASTM test methods and standards for the synthetic fabric in your clothes, the steel in your car, the plastics that surround us, the detergent you wash your clothes with, and the water you drink. I cannot think of a single industry, even farming, that doesn't have common test methods under ASTM. ASTM is non-governmental, the standards are written by volunteers, and in my opinion ASTM is an unsung hero of the success of our society." -Jim Gammon, president, Gammon Technical Products Inc.