TUlib

CR regionEN, Wysiwyg textEN

How are standards used in practice? An example!

Standards are part of everyday life and are almost everywhere. You are confronted with them every single day (although often  maybe without realising it).  From the size of your shirt to the construction of your house: almost everything is governed by standards. So how and when are they used? Let's look at it by using a very mundane example: shoes

A European shoe manufacturer uses one (or more!) standards to ensure that the shoes it produces are the right size and labels them accordingly. He will most likely use the EU standard EN 13402, but if he wants to market his shoes outside Europe, he will have to deal with a plethora of other shoe size systems. It is obvious that using a standard (e.g. ISO 9407:1991) benefits both manufacturer and customers. But the fact that there are a variety of standards makes it more difficult (and probably more costly) for the manufacturer to operate on a larger market.

Obligatory or not?

Although the manufacturer is not obliged to comply with the measurement standards above, not using them will probably put him out of business very quickly. Many standards are obligatory, however, often as part of national or international safety regulations. If the manufacturer wants to market safety shoes in the EU, for example, the EU Directive 89/686/EEG states that the shoes must comply with NEN-EN-ISO 20345:2004. Approved shoes then receive a CE mark.