IEEE/ASTM SI 10 is also the governing document for the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, my employer. Each of the six editors on our staff has a copy on his or her shelves.
Through the work of USMA members on consensus standards, SI has "seized the high ground" in the contest for industrial compliance. From where I sit, it is clear that US industry is converting now, though too gradually for some. > From: James Frysinger <[email protected]> > Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:08:48 -0600 > To: Patrick Moore <[email protected]> > Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [USMA:43241] evidence of progress in welding > > Thanks for posting this, Patrick. > > The American Welding Society's _Metric Practice Guide_ is a fine example > of standards developed in the private sector (industry, professional > societies, etc.) by standards developing organizations in order to > specify the use of the metric system in their fields. (Disclosure -- I > helped write this one.) > > The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) teamed with > ASTM, Inc. (previously named American Society for Testing and Materials) > to write a similar standard. It is called _American National Standard > for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric > System_ (IEEE/ASTM SI 10-2002). This is currently under review and > revision -- and almost certainly with a shorter title! (Another > disclosure -- I am the Vice Chair of the committee working on this > revision and the Chair of the IEEE sponsoring committee, SCC 14.) Order > SI 10 from IEEE or ASTM. > > The two standards mentioned above are examples of consensus standards. > The process to develop these involves balloting by members in that > particular society (AWS, IEEE, ASTM) who signed up to take part in the > balloting process. In the case of IEEE, approval by balloting requires > 75 % response by the balloting pool. We would never have a President in > this country if national elections had the same requirement! It also > requires that 75 % of the ballots cast are in favor and that comments > made by negative ballots are addressed (rebutted or accepted for further > revision). > > Thus, the news is even greater than Patrick might have imagined. > Documents such as these consensus standards come from the members of the > sponsoring societies. One might view these as "ground root" > acclamations. IEEE itself is made up of "more than 375,000 members > including nearly 80,000 student members in more than 160 countries" and > is headquartered in Piscataway NJ. > > From my personal experience in working on the standards mentioned > above, I can attest that they were developed and revised using the SI > Brochure, NIST SP 330, and NIST SP 811 as references. The AWS _Metric > Practice Guide_ additionally considered IEEE/ASTM SI 10. For the most > part, any differences among these various publications concern issues of > style and not of core substance. > > Jim Frysinger > > Patrick Moore wrote: >> AWS A1.1:2001; METRIC PRACTICE GUIDE FOR THE WELDING INDUSTRY >> (2001) $60.00 >> This metric practice guide is based on the International System of Units >> (SI) as defined in the U.S. Federal Register notice of July 28, 1998, >> "Metric System of Measurement: Interpretation of the International System of >> Units for the United States." It includes the base units, derived units, and >> rules for their use. Also covered are conversion factors and rules for their >> use in converting inch-pound units to SI units. Recommendations are >> presented for style and usage in such areas as prefixes, punctuation, number >> grouping, etc. There are also suggestions to industry for managing the >> transition.<https://www.awspubs.com/product_info.php?&products_id=2> >> >> >> >> > > -- > James R. Frysinger > 632 Stony Point Mountain Road > Doyle, TN 38559-3030 > > (C) 931.212.0267 > (H) 931.657.3107 > (F) 931.657.3108
