Access to standards

[zmiller]

My company is currently giving some thought to how we handle standards.  There are two main aspects, industry standards and company standards.  We are interested in what other companies are doing and any lessons learned to help us determine what the options are, and which option is best.  Below are some specific questions we have but if you have thoughts beyond these questions please share.

• How does your company handle or provide access to industry standards?  For example the ASME standards.
• Do you use a service to provide company wide access?
• Are individuals responsible for obtaining their own copy?
• Some other option or combination of A and B?
• Does your company use industry standards exclusively? 
• Does your company use company developed standards exclusively?
• Does your company use a combination of industry and company developed standards?
• If your company has their own standards do they supplement or replace industry standards?
• If your company has their own standards how are they developed/managed/updated?
• Is there a corporate level function for developing/managing/updating them?
• Or are they developed/managed/updated at a lower level?

[kdirth]

My company has an individual who is a member of the most relevant and most used standard organization.  He is responsible for maintaining a folder in the computer system.  All other standards are purchased as needed and maintained in the computer system.

Our company creates company standards where feasible that meet or exceed the industry standards.  This makes it easier for everyone to understand what the requirements are that we have to meet for our products.  Some our standards refer to the relevant standard(s) for requirements.  We have additional internal standards for other aspects such as quality & appearance.

Mostly we follow our own standards. However, some of our customers require that we test to specific standards or their own standards.

We have one individual who is responsible for maintaining our internal standards as well as providing interpretation of industry standards.  He is also an approver of test requests and test reports.  Minor changes are handled mainly by this individual.  Any major changes or additional internal standards are done in consultation with many others, including engineering and the test department.

Hope this helps a little.

[zmiller]

Thanks @kdirth !  This does help