Benefits for the private sector
Participation in the standardization process is a strategic move for any company. By actively taking part in standardization, you can bring your own technologies and ideas to standards, while at the same time ensuring safety interests, environmental and consumer protection and occupational health are given due consideration. Plus, getting involved in standards work brings you in direct contact with specialists in other areas ... and your potential competitors. This gives you a competitive lead. Also, innovations that have been brought to the standardization process are more likely to be successful on the market. This increases investment security. And working together with those shaping research and development helps you lay the path for bringing new technologies on the market.
Initially, taking part in standardization does require an investment in terms of sending experts, travel costs and the overall costs of participation. However, the benefits soon outweigh the costs by far.
Research and development are not the only generators of growth: Equally important is the dissemination and application of new findings. Standards are ideal for this purpose because they make specialist knowledge available to all. Standards generate economic benefits which have been estimated at € 17 billion a year for Germany alone.* Standards also have a greater effect on economic growth than patents or licences.
Standards also promote worldwide trade, encouraging rationalization, quality assurance and environmental protection, as well as improving security and communication. Thus, standardization is a key strategic instrument in global competition. Companies who take part in standardization gain a time advantage and knowledge lead. This also lowers R&D risks and costs. Using standards also helps lower costs when purchasing or issuing invitations to tender.
Standards support deregulation while leaving room for innovation. By referring to standards for technical detail, legislators can respond quickly to changes in the state of the art.
* As per the DIN study "Economic Benefits of Standardization", updated in 2011
The voluntary nature of standards supports industrial self-regulation and reduces the legislative burden on the state.
By actively taking part in standardization, companies can help shape these technical rules to better reflect their own interests. At the same time, safety interests such as environmental and consumer protection and occupational health are given due consideration. Plus, getting involved in standards work brings you in direct contact with specialists in other areas – and with your potential competitors.
Influencing the content of standards brings competitive advantages and a preview of what's happening on the market. And working together with those shaping research and development helps you lay the path for bringing new technologies to the market.
Standards can help you achieve cost savings in all areas of business: from purchasing, production and sales to R&D, quality assurance, environmental protection and occupational health & safety.
- R&D can use the fundamental knowledge contained in standards as a basis for work.
- Standards help rationalize production.
- Standardizing interfaces enhances compatibility, leading to lower transaction costs.
- Compatible products and systems are in greater demand and are more successful on the market.
- Standards also improve quality, which is essential for good customer relations.
- And of course, standards ensure safety, which not only enhances customer trust but also reduces liability.