Standards are a powerful tool for organizations of all sizes, supporting innovation and increasing productivity. Effective standardization promotes forceful competition and enhances profitability, enabling a business to take a leading role in shaping the industry itself. Standards allow a company to:
- attract and assure customers
- demonstrate market leadership
- create competitive advantage
- develop and maintain best practice.
Standards are powerful marketing tools
The ability to demonstrate compliance with widely recognised and respected standards is an effective means of differentiation in a competitive marketplace. In addition, manufacturing products or supplying services to appropriate standards maximizes their compatibility with those manufactured or offered by others, thereby increasing potential sales and widespread acceptance.
As consumers become increasingly informed about their choices, conformity to recognised standards becomes pivotal. An example is the international standard for environmental management (ISO 14001), increasingly used by businesses to demonstrate environmental responsibility.
Standards are a respected badge of quality
Customers look for the independent verification that technical standards provide. Certification marks earned by businesses whose products and practices consistently stand up to rigorous examination are instantly recognizable and act as respected badges of quality, safety and performance.
Standards within business
In modern business, effective communication along the supply chain and with legislative bodies, clients and customers is imperative. Standardization can deliver measurable benefits when applied within the infrastructure of a company itself. Business costs and risks can be minimized, internal processes streamlined and communication improved. Standardization promotes interoperability, providing a competitive edge necessary for the effective worldwide trading of products and services.
