NPES and You: Writing the “Rules of Engagement”
It’s much easier to get ahead when you know “the rules.” It’s even better when you can write them!
Every year, perceptive competitors gain an advantage when they help write “the rules” that become International Standards for industry. These global guidelines are essential to ensure the quality, safety, and reliability that contribute to bottom-line cost savings, and optimized return on investment.
Standards build confidence in the quality and safety of traded products with compliance to specific requirements. Conformance to standards levels the playing field, protects consumers from harmful practices, and enables all enterprises to compete internationally. Plus, standards support sustainable economic growth, promote good regulatory practice, and open international trade by reducing technical barriers.
Industry standards
NPES (Booth 3255) facilitates the development of national and international standards for the printing industry in the areas of: (1) safety standards for printing, publishing, and converting equipment; and, (2) technical standards for data exchange, process control, metrology, and packaging. This work is open to anyone, and involvement of the user community is welcome.
NPES’ role in the standards development process includes serving as secretariat to the following American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards committees:
- B65 Committee, which develops U.S. safety standards for printing press, bindery, and other printing equipment and systems.
- Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS), which develops U.S. technical standards with the goal of having the entire scope of printing, publishing, and converting technologies represented in one national standardization and coordination effort.
In addition, NPES is accredited by ANSI to administer the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) to the International Organization for Standardization’s Technical Committee 130, Graphic Technology, which consists of experts who provide guidance to ANSI on development of the U.S. position on international standards relating to graphic arts.
NPES also serves as secretariat to the International Color Consortium, an organization devoted to promoting the use and adoption of open, vendor-neutral, cross-platform color management systems.
Brand Owners Council
New this year is the NPES Brand Owners Council. Its goal is to provide information that facilitates alignment with published industry standards and best practices for U.S. manufacturers. To that end, the Council has created a roadmap for every segment of the packaging supply chain. This roadmap, which aligns process and procedures with the aims of customers, is designed to save time and resources, provide requirements and evaluation criteria in an easy to follow format, and common measurements for products. The roadmap will be presented today from 2 – 3:30 pm, in Room S503ab.
If your company isn’t involved in the industry standards development process, just a sampling of the advantages you are missing includes the benefits of:
- Early access to insider knowledge and information;
- Ability to exert influence on technical content that can impact your products and customers; and,
- The opportunity to develop new markets for your products, services, and technologies.
For complete information about participating in International Standards development, visit the NPES Standards Workroom online: www.npes.org/programs/standardsworkroom.aspx, contact Debbie Orf, NPES Senior Director, ICC and Standards, at phone: 703-264-7200, email: dorf@npes.org, or stop by the NPES booth or the NPES Global Executive Lounge (Room N427abcd) during PRINT 17.
