Standardization News

ASTM International Committee E11 on Quality and Statistics has approved the last in a series of ASTM standards that preserve military sampling standards no longer supported by the U.S. Department of Defense. The new standard, E2910, Guide for Preferred Methods for Acceptance of Product, preserves MIL-STD-1916 in its original form.

E2910 is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee E11.30 on Statistical Quality Control.

"E2910 provides the sampling plans of MIL-STD-1916 in ASTM format for use by ASTM committees and others," says Dean Neubauer, engineering fellow, Corning Inc., as well as chairman of E11 and coordinator of the DataPoints column in ASTM Standardization News.

E2910 preserves most of the original text of MIL-STD-1916 with a few minor changes. "Government" in the original has been changed to "consumer," while "contractor" has been replaced with "producer" to make the standard more generic.

According to Neubauer, the purpose of E2910 is to encourage producers supplying goods and services to submit efficient and effective process control (prevention) procedures in place of prescribed sampling requirements.

"The goal is to support the movement away from an AQL-based inspection strategy to implementation of an effective prevention-based strategy, including a comprehensive quality system, continual improvement and a partnership with the consumer," says Neubauer. "The underlying theme is a partnership between consumer and producer, with the requisite competence of both parties, and a clear mutual benefit from processes capable of consistently high quality products and services."

Neubauer believes that the use of E2910 will create an atmosphere where every instance of noncompliance is an opportunity for corrective action and improvement rather than one where acceptable quality levels are the contractually sufficient goals.

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CONTACT Technical Information: Dean V. Neubauer, Corning Inc. • Corning, N.Y. • Phone: 607-974-6777 | ASTM Staff: Katerina Koperna • Phone: 610-832-9728 | Upcoming Meeting: May 8-10 • ASTM Headquarters, West Conshohocken, Pa.