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{{Short description|Implementation of technical standards based on the consensus of different parties}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Nonstandard}}
{{History of technology sidebar}}

'''Standardization''' ([[American English]]) or '''standardisation''' ([[British English]]) is the process of implementing and developing [[technical standard]]s based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Xie|first1=Zongjie|last2=Hall|first2=Jeremy|last3=McCarthy|first3=Ian P.|last4=Skitmore|first4=Martin|last5=Shen|first5=Liyin|date=2016-02-01|title=Standardization efforts: The relationship between knowledge dimensions, search processes and innovation outcomes|journal=Technovation|series=Innovation and Standardization|volume=48–49|pages=69–78|doi=10.1016/j.technovation.2015.12.002|doi-access=free|hdl=11385/188510|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Standardization can help maximize [[:wikt:compatibility|compatibility]], [[interoperability]], [[safety]], [[repeatability]], [[efficiency]], and [[Quality (business)|quality]]. It can also facilitate a normalization of formerly custom processes. 

In [[social science]]s, including [[economics]],<ref name="Blind 2004">{{cite book|first=K.|last=Blind|title=The economics of standards|year=2004|publisher=Edward Elgar|place=Cheltenham|isbn=978-1-84376-793-0|url=http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/the-economics-of-standards|access-date=2016-06-16|archive-date=2016-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927223550/http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/the-economics-of-standards|url-status=live}}</ref> the idea of ''standardization'' is close to the solution for a [[coordination problem]], a situation in which all parties can realize mutual gains, but only by making mutually consistent decisions. Divergent national standards impose costs on consumers and can be a form of [[Non-tariff barriers to trade|non-tariff trade barrier]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Duina |first1=Francesco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUK2EAAAQBAJ |title=Standardizing the World: EU Trade Policy and the Road to Convergence |last2=Viju-Miljusevic |first2=Crina |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-768188-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==Objectives==
The [[European Union]]'s Regulation 1025/2012 on standardisation states that "The primary objective of standardisation is the definition of voluntary technical or quality specifications with which current or future products, production processes or services may comply."<ref>[[EUR-Lex]], [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/1025/oj/eng Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation, amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council], ''Preamble'', paragraph 1, published on 14 November 2012, accessed on 17 November 2025</ref>

==History==
===Early examples===
Standard weights and measures were developed by the [[Indus Valley civilization]].<ref name=Iwata2254>Iwata, Shigeo (2008), "Weights and Measures in the Indus Valley", ''Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (2nd edition)'' edited by [[Helaine Selin]], pp.&nbsp;2254&ndash;2255, Springer, {{ISBN|978-1-4020-4559-2}}.</ref> The centralized weight and measure system served the commercial interest of Indus merchants as smaller weight measures were used to measure luxury goods while larger weights were employed for buying bulkier items, such as food grains etc.<ref name=Kenoyer265/> Weights existed in multiples of a standard weight and in categories.<ref name=Kenoyer265>Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark (2006), "Indus Valley Civilization", ''[[Encyclopedia of India]] (vol. 2)'' edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp.&nbsp;258&ndash;266, Thomson Gale, {{ISBN|0-684-31351-0}}</ref> [[Technical standard]]ization enabled gauging devices to be effectively used in [[angular measurement]] and measurement for construction.<ref name=Baber_b>Baber, Zaheer (1996), The Science of Empire: Scientific Knowledge, Civilization, and Colonial Rule in India, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-7914-2919-9}}.</ref> Uniform units of length were used in the planning of towns such as [[Lothal]], [[Surkotada]], [[Kalibangan]], [[Dholavira|Dolavira]], [[Harappa]], and [[Mohenjo-daro]].<ref name=Iwata2254/> The weights and measures of the Indus civilization also reached [[Persia]] and [[Central Asia]], where they were further modified.<ref name=Iwata2254_quote>In the third millennium BCE the Indus measuring system was further developed in the ancient regions of Iran and Afghanistan -- Iwata, 2254.</ref> Shigeo Iwata describes the excavated weights unearthed from the Indus civilization:

{{Quotation|1=A total of 558 weights were excavated from Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and [[Chanhudaro|Chanhu-daro]], not including defective weights. They did not find statistically significant differences between weights that were excavated from five different layers, each measuring about 1.5&nbsp;m in depth. This was evidence that strong control existed for at least a 500-year period. The 13.7-g weight seems to be one of the units used in the Indus valley. The notation was based on the [[Binary numeral system|binary]] and [[decimal]] systems. 83% of the weights which were excavated from the above three cities were cubic, and 68% were made of [[chert]].<ref name=Iwata2254/>}}

===18th century attempts===
[[File:Maudslay screw-cutting lathes of circa 1797 and 1800.png|thumb|[[Henry Maudslay]]'s famous early screw-cutting lathes of {{Circa|1797}} and 1800]]

The implementation of standards in industry and commerce became highly important with the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the need for high-precision [[machine tool]]s and [[interchangeable parts]].

[[Henry Maudslay]] developed the first industrially practical [[screw-cutting lathe]] in 1800. This allowed for the standardization of [[screw thread]] sizes for the first time and paved the way for the practical application of [[Interchangeable parts|interchangeability]] (an idea that was already taking hold) to [[Nut (hardware)|nuts]] and [[Screw|bolts]].<ref name="Ping">{{citation|url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/econwp117.pdf|title=A Brief History of Standards and Standardization Organizations: A Chinese Perspective|author=Wang Ping|publisher=EAST-WEST CENTER WORKING PAPERS|date=April 2011|access-date=2014-01-13|archive-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612142253/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/econwp117.pdf}}</ref>

Before this, screw threads were usually made by chipping and filing (that is, with skilled freehand use of [[chisel]]s and [[file (tool)|files]]). [[Nut (hardware)|Nuts]] were rare; metal screws, when made at all, were usually for use in wood. Metal bolts passing through wood framing to a metal fastening on the other side were usually fastened in non-threaded ways (such as clinching or upsetting against a washer). Maudslay standardized the screw threads used in his workshop and produced sets of [[Tap and die|taps and dies]] that would make nuts and bolts consistently to those standards, so that any bolt of the appropriate size would fit any nut of the same size. This was a major advance in workshop technology.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rolt|first=L. T. C.|title=Great Engineers|year=1962|publisher=Bell and Sons}}</ref>

===National standard===
Maudslay's work, as well as the contributions of other engineers, accomplished a modest amount of industry standardization; some companies' in-house standards spread a bit within their industries.

[[File:JFIScrewThread300.png|thumb|left|Graphic representation of formulae for the pitches of threads of screw bolts]]
[[Joseph Whitworth]]'s screw thread measurements were adopted as the first (unofficial) national standard by companies around the country in 1841. It came to be known as the [[British Standard Whitworth]], and was widely adopted in other countries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gilbert|first1=K. R.|last2=Galloway|first2=D. F.|year=1978|chapter=Machine Tools|editor-first1=C.|editor-last1=Singer|title=A history of technology|place=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|display-editors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Sidney|year=1900|title=Dictionary of National Biography|volume=LXI|publisher=Smith Elder|place=London|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=tzsJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA166}}</ref>

This new standard specified a 55° thread angle and a thread depth of 0.640327''p'' and a radius of 0.137329''p'', where ''p'' is the pitch. The thread pitch increased with diameter in steps specified on a chart. An example of the use of the Whitworth thread is the [[Royal Navy]]'s [[Crimean War]] gunboats. These were the first instance of "mass-production" techniques being applied to marine engineering.<ref name="Ping" />

With the adoption of BSW by British [[railway]] lines, many of which had previously used their own standard both for threads and for bolt head and nut profiles, and improving manufacturing techniques, it came to dominate British manufacturing.

[[Unified Thread Standard|American Unified Coarse]] was originally based on almost the same imperial fractions. The Unified thread angle is 60° and has flattened crests (Whitworth crests are rounded). Thread pitch is the same in both systems except that the thread pitch for the {{frac|1|2}}&nbsp;in. (inch) bolt is 12 threads per inch (tpi) in BSW versus 13 tpi in the UNC.

===National standards body===
By the end of the 19th century, differences in standards between companies were making trade increasingly difficult and strained. For instance, an iron and steel dealer recorded his displeasure in ''[[The Times]]'': "Architects and engineers generally specify such unnecessarily diverse types of sectional material or given work that anything like economical and continuous manufacture becomes impossible. In this country no two professional men are agreed upon the size and weight of a girder to employ for given work."

The [[BSI Group|Engineering Standards Committee]] was established in London in 1901 as the world's first national standards body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsigroup.com/upload/Corporate%20Marketing/Financial%20Performance/BSI_Group_Annual_Report_and_Financial_Statements_2010.pdf|title=BSI Group Annual Report and Financial Statements 2010|page=2|access-date=3 April 2012|archive-date=26 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926174910/http://www.bsigroup.com/upload/Corporate%20Marketing/Financial%20Performance/BSI_Group_Annual_Report_and_Financial_Statements_2010.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Robert C McWilliam 2001">{{cite book|first=Robert C.|last=McWilliam.|title=BSI: The first hundred years|year=2001|publisher=Thanet|place=London|isbn=978-0-7277-3020-6|url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/book/102072|access-date=2014-01-23|archive-date=2014-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201220104/http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/book/102072|url-status=live}}</ref> It subsequently extended its standardization work and became the British Engineering Standards Association in 1918, adopting the name British Standards Institution in 1931 after receiving its Royal Charter in 1929. The national standards were adopted universally throughout the country, and enabled the markets to act more rationally and efficiently, with an increased level of cooperation.

After the [[First World War]], similar national bodies were established in other countries. The {{Lang|de|[[Deutsches Institut für Normung]]|italic=no}} was set up in Germany in 1917, followed by its counterparts, the American [[American National Standards Institute|National Standard Institute]] and the French [[AFNOR|Commission Permanente de Standardisation]], both in 1918.<ref name="Ping" />

=== Regional standards organization ===
At a regional level (e.g. Europa, [[the Americas]], Africa, etc) or at subregional level (e.g. Mercosur, Andean Community, South East Asia, South East Africa, etc), several Regional Standardization Organizations exist (see also [[Standards organization|Standards Organization]]).

There are three regional standards organizations in Europe known as European Standardization Organizations (ESOs), or European standards bodies. [[European Committee for Standardization|CEN]], [[European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization|CENELEC]], and [[European Telecommunications Standards Institute|ETSI]] are recognized via the EU's Regulation on Standardization (Regulation (EU) 1025/2012).<ref>{{CELEX|32012R1025|text=Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation}}</ref>{{efn|Originally CEN and CELELEC were the two "European standards bodies" which were recognised to be "particularly competent" in the field of standardisation.<ref>Publications Office of the European Union, [https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9f7c3a42-449e-4ccc-9a29-5a544003b338/language-en Council Resolution of 7 May 1985 on a new approach to technical harmonization and standards], Annex II, Paragraph V.4, adopted on 7 May 1995, accessed on 18 November 2025</ref>}} CEN develops standards for numerous kinds of products, materials, services and processes. Some sectors covered by CEN include transport equipment and services, chemicals, construction, consumer products, defence and security, energy, food and feed, health and safety, healthcare, digital sector, machinery or services.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Verdera|first=Francisco|date=2020|title=CEN - European Committee for Standardization|url=https://genorma.com/en/cen_p10021.html|url-status=live|website=GENORMA.COM|access-date=2022-01-01|archive-date=2021-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126233204/https://genorma.com/en/cen_p10021.html}}</ref> The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) is the European Standardization organization developing standards in the electrotechnical area and corresponding to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Verdera|first=Francisco|date=2020|title=CENELEC|url=https://genorma.com/en/cenelec_p10022.html|url-status=live|website=CENELEC in Genorma|access-date=2022-01-01|archive-date=2022-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101151601/https://genorma.com/en/cenelec_p10022.html}}</ref>

===International standards===
{{Main|International standard}}
The first modern [[International Organization]] ([[Intergovernmental Organization]]), the International Telegraph Union (now the [[International Telecommunication Union]]), was created in 1865<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/ITUsHistory.aspx|title=Overview of ITU's History|website=www.itu.int|access-date=2019-06-19|archive-date=2019-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531172343/https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/ITUsHistory.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> to set international standards in order to connect national telegraph networks, as a merger of two predecessor organizations (Bern and Paris treaties) that had similar objectives, but in more limited territories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/pre1865agreements.aspx|title=Pre-1865 International Telegraph Agreements|website=www.itu.int|access-date=2019-06-19|archive-date=2019-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225081711/https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/pre1865agreements.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/FocusOnStandardization.aspx|title=Focus on Standardization|website=www.itu.int|access-date=2019-06-19|archive-date=2020-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101110204/https://www.itu.int/en/history/Pages/FocusOnStandardization.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> With the advent of radiocommunication soon after its creation, the work of the ITU quickly expanded from the standardization of telegraph communications to the development of standards for telecommunications in general.

===International Standards Associations===
By the mid to late 19th century, efforts were being made to standardize electrical measurement. [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Lord Kelvin]] was an important figure in this process, introducing accurate methods and apparatus for measuring electricity. In 1857, he introduced a series of effective instruments, including the quadrant electrometer, which cover the entire field of electrostatic measurement. He invented the [[current balance]], also known as the ''Kelvin balance'' or ''Ampere balance'' (''SiC''), for the [[accuracy and precision|precise]] specification of the [[ampere]], the [[standardisation|standard]] [[Units of measurement|unit]] of [[electric current]].<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Lindley|title=Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy|page=293|isbn=978-0-309-09618-8|publisher=National Academic Press|year=2005}}</ref>

[[R. E. B. Crompton]] became concerned by the large range of different standards and systems used by electrical engineering companies and scientists in the early 20th century. Many companies had entered the market in the 1890s and all chose their own settings for [[volt]]age, [[frequency]], [[Electric current|current]] and even the symbols used on circuit diagrams. Adjacent buildings would have totally incompatible electrical systems simply because they had been fitted out by different companies. Crompton could see the lack of efficiency in this system and began to consider proposals for an international standard for electric engineering.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iec.ch/about/history/articles/colonel_crompton.htm |title=Colonel Crompton |publisher=[[International Electrotechnical Commission]] |work=www.iec.ch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903145102/http://www.iec.ch/about/history/articles/colonel_crompton.htm |archive-date=September 3, 2010 }}</ref>

In 1904, Crompton represented Britain at the [[International Electrical Congress]], held in connection with [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri|Saint Louis]] as part of a delegation by the [[Institute of Electrical Engineers]]. He presented a paper on standardization, which was so well received that he was asked to look into the formation of a commission to oversee the process.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=J.|last2=Randell|first2=W.|year=1948|title=Colonel Crompton and the Evolution of the Electrical Industry|publisher=Longman Green}}</ref> By 1906 his work was complete and he drew up a permanent constitution for the [[International Electrotechnical Commission]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources|first1=Chris K.|last1=Dyer|first2=Patrick T.|last2=Moseley|first3=Zempachi|last3=Ogumi|first4= David A. J.|last4=Rand|first5=Bruno|last5=Scrosati|publisher=Newnes|year=2010|page=540|isbn=978-0-444-52745-5}}</ref> The body held its first meeting that year in London, with representatives from 14 countries. In honour of his contribution to electrical standardization, Lord Kelvin was elected as the body's first President.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.iec.ch/about/history/documents/pdf/IEC_Founding_Meeting_Report_1906.pdf | title=Report of Preliminary Meeting | year=1906 | place=London | pages=46–47 (25–26 in PDF) | work=The minutes from our first meeting | publisher=[[International Electrotechnical Commission]] | access-date=23 January 2014 | archive-date=2 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502223234/https://www.iec.ch/about/history/documents/pdf/IEC_Founding_Meeting_Report_1906.pdf }}</ref>

[[File:Memory plaque of founding ISA in Prague cropped.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque of founding ISA in [[Prague]]]]
The [[ISO|International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations]] (ISA) was founded in 1926 with a broader remit to enhance international cooperation for all technical standards and specifications. The body was suspended in 1942 during [[World War&nbsp;II]].

After the war, ISA was approached by the recently formed United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) with a proposal to form a new global standards body. In October 1946, ISA and UNSCC delegates from 25 countries met in [[London]] and agreed to join forces to create the new [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO); the new organization officially began operations in February&nbsp;1947.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.iso.org/iso/2012_friendship_among_equals.pdf|title=Friendship among equals - Recollections from ISO's first fifty years|publisher=[[International Organization for Standardization]]|year=1997|isbn=92-67-10260-5|pages=15–18|access-date=26 December 2013|archive-date=26 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026060448/http://www.iso.org/iso/2012_friendship_among_equals.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In general, each country or economy has a single recognized National Standards Body (NSB). Examples include [[ABNT]], [[Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación|AENOR (now called UNE, ''Spanish Association for Standardization'')]], [[Association française de Normalisation|AFNOR]], [[American National Standards Institute|ANSI]], [[BSI Group|BSI]], [[Dirección General de Normas|DGN]], [[DIN]], [[Instituto Argentino de Normalización y Certificación|IRAM]], [[Japanese Industrial Standards Committee|JISC]], [[Korean Agency for Technology and Standards|KATS]], [[South African Bureau of Standards|SABS]], [[Standardization Administration of China|SAC]], [[Standards Council of Canada|SCC]], [[Swedish Standards Institute|SIS]]. An NSB is likely the sole member from that economy in ISO.

NSBs may be either public or private sector organizations, or combinations of the two. For example, the three NSBs of Canada, Mexico and the United States are respectively the Standards Council of Canada ([[Standards Council of Canada|SCC]]), the General Bureau of Standards ({{lang|es|Dirección General de Normas}}, DGN), and the [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI). SCC is a Canadian [[Crown Corporation]], DGN is a governmental agency within the Mexican Ministry of Economy, and ANSI and AENOR are a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization with members from both the private and public sectors. The determinants of whether an NSB for a particular economy is a public or private sector body may include the historical and traditional roles that the private sector fills in public affairs in that economy or the development stage of that economy.

==Usage==
Standards can be:
* [[de facto standard]]s which means they are followed by informal convention or dominant usage.
* [[de jure]] standards which are part of legally binding contracts, laws or regulations.
* Voluntary standards which are published and available for people to consider for use.

The existence of a published standard does not necessarily imply that it is useful or correct. Just because an item is stamped with a standard number does not, by itself, indicate that the item is fit for any particular use. The people who use the item or service (engineers, trade unions, etc.) or specify it (building codes, government, industry, etc.) have the responsibility to consider the available standards, specify the correct one, enforce compliance, and use the item correctly: [[validation and verification]].

To avoid the proliferation of industry standards, also referred to as [[technical standard|private standards]], regulators in the United States are instructed by their government offices to adopt "voluntary consensus standards" before relying upon "industry standards" or developing "government standards".<ref>{{cite web |title=Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Circular-119-1.pdf |website=[[White House]] |publisher=United States Office of Management and Budget |access-date=2021-10-02 |archive-date=2017-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219144113/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Circular-119-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Regulatory authorities can reference voluntary consensus standards to translate internationally accepted criteria into [[public policy]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Using and referencing ISO and IEC standards to support public policy |date=2015 |publisher=ISO |location=Geneva, Switzerland |isbn=978-92-67-10633-5 |url=https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100358.html |access-date=2021-10-02 |archive-date=2021-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002213638/https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100358.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=International standards and private standards |date=2010 |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |isbn=978-92-67-10518-5 |url=https://docplayer.net/23885374-International-standards-and-private-standards.html |access-date=2021-10-03 |archive-date=2021-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006133214/https://docplayer.net/23885374-International-standards-and-private-standards.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Information exchange===
In the context of [[information exchange]], standardization refers to the process of developing standards for specific business processes using specific [[formal language]]s. These standards are usually developed in voluntary consensus standards bodies such as the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business ([[UN/CEFACT]]), the World Wide Web Consortium ([[W3C]]), the [[Telecommunications Industry Association]] (TIA), and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards ([[OASIS (organization)|OASIS]]).

There are many [[specification]]s that govern the operation and interaction of devices and software on the [[Internet]], which do not use the term "standard" in their names. The [[W3C]], for example, publishes "Recommendations", and the [[IETF]] publishes "[[Request for Comments|Requests for Comments]]" (RFCs). Nevertheless, these publications are often referred to as "standards", because they are the products of regular standardization processes.

===Environmental protection===
{{See also|Import|Eco-tariff|Subsidy|Environmental impact assessment|#Ergonomics, workplace and health|Air quality index}}
[[Sustainability standards and certification|Standardized product certifications]] such as of [[organic food]], [[green building|buildings]] or [[Sustainable seafood advisory lists and certification|possibly sustainable seafood]] as well as standardized product safety evaluation and dis/approval procedures (e.g. [[regulation of chemicals]], [[Ingredients of cosmetics#Regulation|cosmetics]] and [[food safety]]) can protect the environment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milder |first1=Jeffrey C. |last2=Arbuthnot |first2=Margaret |last3=Blackman |first3=Allen |last4=Brooks |first4=Sharon E. |last5=Giovannucci |first5=Daniele |last6=Gross |first6=Lee |last7=Kennedy |first7=Elizabeth T. |last8=Komives |first8=Kristin |last9=Lambin |first9=Eric F. |last10=Lee |first10=Audrey |last11=Meyer |first11=Daniel |last12=Newton |first12=Peter |last13=Phalan |first13=Ben |last14=Schroth |first14=Götz |last15=Semroc |first15=Bambi |last16=Rikxoort |first16=Henk Van |last17=Zrust |first17=Michal |title=An agenda for assessing and improving conservation impacts of sustainability standards in tropical agriculture |journal=Conservation Biology |date=2015 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=309–320 |doi=10.1111/cobi.12411 |pmid=25363833 |bibcode=2015ConBi..29..309M |hdl=2027.42/110892 |s2cid=31054459 |language=es |issn=1523-1739|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tayleur |first1=Catherine |last2=Balmford |first2=Andrew |last3=Buchanan |first3=Graeme M. |last4=Butchart |first4=Stuart H. M. |last5=Ducharme |first5=Heather |last6=Green |first6=Rhys E. |last7=Milder |first7=Jeffrey C. |last8=Sanderson |first8=Fiona J. |last9=Thomas |first9=David H. L. |last10=Vickery |first10=Juliet |last11=Phalan |first11=Ben |title=Global Coverage of Agricultural Sustainability Standards, and Their Role in Conserving Biodiversity |journal=Conservation Letters |date=2017 |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=610–618 |doi=10.1111/conl.12314 |bibcode=2017ConL...10..610T |s2cid=88591488 |language=en |issn=1755-263X|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schmitz-Hoffmann |first1=Carsten |last2=Hansmann |first2=Berthold |last3=Klose |first3=Sophie |title=Voluntary Standard Systems |chapter=Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Measuring Their Impact |series=Natural Resource Management in Transition |date=2014 |volume=1 |pages=133–143 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-35716-9_9 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-35715-2 |language=en}}</ref> This effect may depend on associated modified [[consumer choice]]s, strategic product support/obstruction, requirements and bans as well as their accordance with a scientific basis, the robustness and applicability of a scientific basis, whether adoption of the certifications is voluntary, and the socioeconomic context (systems of [[governance]] and the [[economic system|economy]]), with possibly most certifications being so far mostly largely ineffective.<ref>{{cite web |title=Destruction: Certified |url=https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/46812/destruction-certified/ |website=Greenpeace International |access-date=25 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022100615/https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/46812/destruction-certified/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Moreover, standardized scientific frameworks can enable evaluation of levels of [[environmental protection]], such as of [[marine protected area]]s, and serve as, potentially evolving, guides for improving, planning and monitoring the protection-quality, -scopes and -extents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grorud-Colvert |first1=Kirsten |last2=Sullivan-Stack |first2=Jenna |last3=Roberts |first3=Callum |last4=Constant |first4=Vanessa |last5=Horta e Costa |first5=Barbara |last6=Pike |first6=Elizabeth P. |last7=Kingston |first7=Naomi |last8=Laffoley |first8=Dan |last9=Sala |first9=Enric |last10=Claudet |first10=Joachim |last11=Friedlander |first11=Alan M. |last12=Gill |first12=David A. |last13=Lester |first13=Sarah E. |last14=Day |first14=Jon C. |last15=Gonçalves |first15=Emanuel J. |last16=Ahmadia |first16=Gabby N. |last17=Rand |first17=Matt |last18=Villagomez |first18=Angelo |last19=Ban |first19=Natalie C. |last20=Gurney |first20=Georgina G. |last21=Spalding |first21=Ana K.|author21-link=Ana K. Spalding |last22=Bennett |first22=Nathan J. |last23=Briggs |first23=Johnny |last24=Morgan |first24=Lance E. |last25=Moffitt |first25=Russell |last26=Deguignet |first26=Marine |last27=Pikitch |first27=Ellen K. |last28=Darling |first28=Emily S. |last29=Jessen |first29=Sabine |last30=Hameed |first30=Sarah O. |last31=Di Carlo |first31=Giuseppe |last32=Guidetti |first32=Paolo |last33=Harris |first33=Jean M. |last34=Torre |first34=Jorge |last35=Kizilkaya |first35=Zafer |last36=Agardy |first36=Tundi |last37=Cury |first37=Philippe |last38=Shah |first38=Nirmal J. |last39=Sack |first39=Karen |last40=Cao |first40=Ling |last41=Fernandez |first41=Miriam |last42=Lubchenco |first42=Jane |title=The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean |journal=Science |year=2021 |volume=373 |issue=6560 |article-number=eabf0861 |doi=10.1126/science.abf0861|pmid=34516798 |s2cid=237473020 |url=https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00723/83464/88455.pdf }}</ref> 

Moreover, technical standards could decrease [[electronic waste]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Apple opposes EU plans to make common charger port for all devices |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/23/apple-opposes-eu-plans-to-make-common-charger-port-for-all-devices |access-date=19 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=23 September 2021 |language=en |archive-date=18 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018140109/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/23/apple-opposes-eu-plans-to-make-common-charger-port-for-all-devices |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Peltier |first1=Elian |title=In a setback for Apple, the European Union seeks a common charger for all phones. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/business/european-union-apple-charging-port.html |access-date=19 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910202629/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/business/european-union-apple-charging-port.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=One common charging solution for all |url=https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/electrical-engineering/red-directive/common-charger_en |website=Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs - European Commission |access-date=19 October 2021 |language=en |date=5 July 2016 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019205753/https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/electrical-engineering/red-directive/common-charger_en |url-status=live }}</ref> and reduce resource-needs such as by thereby requiring (or enabling) products to be [[interoperability|interoperable]], compatible (with other products, infrastructures, environments, etc), [[sustainable design|durable]], [[energy efficiency (physics)|energy-efficient]], [[modularity|modular]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schischke |first1=Karsten |last2=Proske |first2=Marina |last3=Nissen |first3=Nils F. |last4=Lang |first4=Klaus-Dieter |title=2016 Electronics Goes Green 2016+ (EGG) |chapter=Modular products: Smartphone design from a circular economy perspective |date=September 2016 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1109/EGG.2016.7829810 |s2cid=23852368 }}</ref> [[upgradeability|upgradeable]]/[[repairability|repairable]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Want to save the Earth? Then don't buy that shiny new iPhone {{!}} John Naughton |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/18/want-to-save-the-earth-then-dont-buy-that-shiny-new-iphone |work=The Guardian |access-date=27 October 2021 |language=en |date=18 September 2021}}</ref> and [[recyclability|recyclable]] and conform to versatile, optimal standards and protocols.

Such standardization is not limited to the domain of electronic devices like smartphones and phone chargers but could also be applied to e.g. the energy infrastructure. [[Policy making|Policy-makers could develop]] policies "fostering standard design and interfaces, and promoting the re-use of modules and components across plants to develop more sustainable [[energy infrastructure]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mignacca |first1=Benito |last2=Locatelli |first2=Giorgio |last3=Velenturf |first3=Anne |title=Modularisation as enabler of circular economy in energy infrastructure |journal=Energy Policy |date=1 April 2020 |volume=139 |article-number=111371 |doi=10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111371 |s2cid=213705461 |language=en |issn=0301-4215|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020EnPol.13911371M |hdl=11311/1204921 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Computers and the Internet are some of the tools that could be used to increase practicability and reduce suboptimal results, detrimental standards and [[bureaucracy]], which is often associated with traditional processes and results of standardization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ho |first1=Alfred Tat-Kei |title=Reinventing Local Governments and the E-Government Initiative |journal=Public Administration Review |date=2002 |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=434–444 |doi=10.1111/0033-3352.00197 |language=en |issn=1540-6210}}</ref> Taxes and subsidies, and funding of research and development could be used complementarily.<ref>{{cite web |title=Circular by design – Products in the circular economy |url=https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/sites/default/files/circular_by_design_-_products_in_the_circular_economy.pdf |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref> Standardized measurement is used in monitoring, reporting and verification frameworks of environmental impacts, usually of companies, for example to prevent underreporting of greenhouse gas emissions by firms.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Downar |first1=Benedikt |last2=Ernstberger |first2=Jürgen |last3=Reichelstein |first3=Stefan |last4=Schwenen |first4=Sebastian |last5=Zaklan |first5=Aleksandar |title=The impact of carbon disclosure mandates on emissions and financial operating performance |journal=Review of Accounting Studies |date=1 September 2021 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=1137–1175 |doi=10.1007/s11142-021-09611-x |s2cid=220061770 |language=en |issn=1573-7136|doi-access=free |hdl=10419/266352 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Product testing and analysis===
{{Further|Product information|Life-cycle assessment|#Ergonomics, workplace and health|Advertising#Criticisms}}
In routine [[product testing]] and [[product analysis]] results can be reported using official or informal standards. It can be done to increase [[consumer protection]], to ensure safety or healthiness or efficiency or performance or sustainability of products. It can be carried out by the manufacturer, an independent laboratory, a government agency, a magazine or others on a voluntary or commissioned/mandated basis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kleinschmidt |first1=Christian |title=Comparative Consumer Product Testing in Germany |journal=Business History Review |date=2010 |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=105–124 |doi=10.1017/S0007680500001264 |s2cid=154453481 |language=en |issn=2044-768X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plambeck |first1=Erica L.|author1-link=Erica Plambeck |last2=Taylor |first2=Terry A. |title=Testing by Competitors in Enforcement of Product Standards |journal=Management Science |date=1 April 2019 |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=1735–1751 |doi=10.1287/mnsc.2017.3023 |s2cid=10756041 |issn=0025-1909|url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/37h1p0b3 }}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Estimating the [[sustainable food system|environmental impacts of food products]] in a standardized way – as has been done with [[Life-cycle assessment#LCA dataset creation|a dataset]] of >57,000 food [[Product (business)|products]] in supermarkets – could e.g. be used to inform consumers or in [[policy]].<ref>{{cite news |title=These are the UK supermarket items with the worst environmental impact |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2332392-these-are-the-uk-supermarket-items-with-the-worst-environmental-impact/ |access-date=14 September 2022 |work=New Scientist}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Michael |last2=Springmann |first2=Marco |last3=Rayner |first3=Mike |last4=Scarborough |first4=Peter |last5=Hill |first5=Jason |last6=Tilman |first6=David |last7=Macdiarmid |first7=Jennie I. |last8=Fanzo |first8=Jessica |last9=Bandy |first9=Lauren |last10=Harrington |first10=Richard A. |title=Estimating the environmental impacts of 57,000 food products |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=16 August 2022 |volume=119 |issue=33 |article-number=e2120584119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2120584119 |pmid=35939701 |pmc=9388151 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11920584C |language=en |issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free}}</ref> For example, such may be useful for approaches using [[personal carbon allowance]]s (or similar quota) or for [[Externality#Scientific calculation of external costs|targeted alteration of (ultimate overall) costs]].

===Safety===
{{Further|Safety standards}}
{{See also|Workplace safety standards}}
====Public information symbols====
{{See also|ISO 7010}}
Public information [[symbol]]s (e.g. [[hazard symbol]]s), especially when related to safety, are often standardized, sometimes [[International standard|on the international level]].<ref name="10.1007/978-3-319-60582-1">{{cite book |title=Advances in Ergonomics in Design: Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Ergonomics in Design, July 17−21, 2017, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA |series=Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing |date=2018 |volume=588 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-60582-1|isbn=978-3-319-60581-4 |last1=Rebelo |first1=Francisco |last2=Soares |first2=Marcelo |url=https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-01825684 }}</ref>

====Biosafety====
{{Further|Biosafety}}
Standardization is also used to ensure safe design and operation of laboratories and similar potentially dangerous workplaces, e.g. to ensure [[biosafety level]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=LABORATORY BIOSAFETY MANUAL |url=https://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/Labbiosafety.pdf |publisher=WHO |access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref> There is research into microbiology safety standards used in clinical and research laboratories.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Emmert |first1=Elizabeth A. B. |title=Biosafety Guidelines for Handling Microorganisms in the Teaching Laboratory: Development and Rationale |journal=Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |year=2013 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=78–83 |doi=10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.531|pmid=23858356 | pmc=3706168}}</ref>

====Defense====
In the context of defense, standardization has been defined by [[NATO]] as ''The development and implementation of concepts, doctrines, procedures and designs to achieve and maintain the required levels of [[:wikt:compatibility|compatibility]], [[interchangeable parts|interchangeability]] or [[commonality]] in the operational, procedural, material, technical and administrative fields to attain interoperability.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebolingroup.com/procurementpower/presentations/Moreno_JuanA.pdf|page=11|title=Interoperability and Standardization within NATO|date=8 April 2009|last=Moreno|first=Juan A.|access-date=23 January 2014|work=NATO Standards Agency|publisher=thebolingroup.com|archive-date=2 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202194852/http://www.thebolingroup.com/procurementpower/presentations/Moreno_JuanA.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Ergonomics, workplace and health===
{{See also|Nutrient profiling|Cosmetics#Safety|Regulation of chemicals#Issues|Consumer protection|Living standard}}
In some cases, standards are being used in the design and operation of [[workplace]]s and products that can impact consumers' health. Some of such standards seek to ensure [[occupational safety and health]] and [[ergonomics]]. For example, [[chair]]s<ref name="10.1007/978-3-319-60582-1"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Helander |first1=Martin G. |last2=Czaja |first2=Sara J. |last3=Drury |first3=Colin G. |last4=Cary |first4=James M. |last5=Burri |first5=George |title=An Ergonomic Evaluation of Office Chairs |journal=Office Technology and People |date=1 January 1987 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=247–263 |doi=10.1108/eb022651 |issn=0167-5710}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tirloni |first1=Adriana Seára |last2=Reis |first2=Diogo Cunha dos |last3=Bornia |first3=Antonio Cezar |last4=Andrade |first4=Dalton Francisco de |last5=Borgatto |first5=Adriano Ferreti |last6=Moro |first6=Antônio Renato Pereira |title=Development and validation of instrument for ergonomic evaluation of tablet arm chairs |journal=EXCLI Journal |date=2016 |volume=15 |pages=671–686 |pmid=28337099|doi=10.17179/excli2016-568 |doi-access=free |pmc=5318684 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Applied Anthropometrics in School Furniture Design: Which Criteria Should be Used for Standardization? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274136412 |via=ResearchGate |journal=Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics |date= June 2014 |first1=Ignacio |last1=Castellucci |first2=Pedro |last2=Arezes |first3=Johan |last3=Molenbroek}}</ref> (see e.g. [[active sitting]] and [[Research#Steps in conducting research|steps of research]]) could be potentially be designed and chosen using standards that may or may not be based on adequate scientific data. Standards could reduce the variety of products and lead to convergence on fewer broad designs – which can often be efficiently mass-produced via common shared automated procedures and instruments – or formulations deemed to be the most healthy, most efficient or best compromise between healthiness and other factors. Standardization is sometimes or could also be used to ensure or increase or enable consumer health protection beyond the workplace and ergonomics such as standards in food, food production, hygiene products, tab water, cosmetics, drugs/medicine,<ref>{{cite web |title=Center for Drug Evaluation and Research – Drug Quality Sampling and Testing Programs |url=https://www.fda.gov/drugs/science-and-research-drugs/drug-quality-sampling-and-testing-programs |website=FDA |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=en |date=3 February 2021 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028110631/https://www.fda.gov/drugs/science-and-research-drugs/drug-quality-sampling-and-testing-programs }}</ref> drink and dietary supplements,<ref>{{cite web |title=Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 |url=https://ods.od.nih.gov/About/dshea_wording.aspx |website=Office of Dietary Supplements |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106175957/https://ods.od.nih.gov/About/DSHEA_Wording.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dietary Supplements & Herbal Medicines |url=https://www.usp.org/dietary-supplements-herbal-medicines |website=USP |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=28 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028110622/https://www.usp.org/dietary-supplements-herbal-medicines |url-status=live }}</ref> especially in cases where there is robust scientific data that suggests detrimental impacts on health (e.g. of ingredients) despite being substitutable and not necessarily of consumer interest.{{additional citations needed|date=October 2021}}

===Clothing===
{{Further|Clothing sizes}}

==== Clinical assessment ====
In the context of assessment, standardization may define how a measuring instrument or procedure is similar to every subjects or patients.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Essentials of educational psychology: big ideas to guide effective teaching|last1=Ormrod |first1=Jeanne Ellis|last2=Jones |first2=Brett D. |year=2018|isbn=978-0-13-489498-0|edition=Fifth|location=NY, NY|oclc=959080826 |publisher=Pearson }}</ref>{{Rp|399}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Essentials of abnormal psychology.|last=Durand, V. Mark.|date=2015|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-305-63368-1 |oclc=884617637}}</ref>{{Rp|71}} For example, educational psychologist may adopt [[structured interview]] to systematically interview the people in concern. By delivering the same procedures, all subjects is evaluated using same criteria and minimizing any [[Confounding|confounding variable]] that reduce the [[Validity (statistics)|validity]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|72}} Some other example includes [[mental status examination]] and [[personality test]].

===Social science===
In the context of social criticism and [[social science]], standardization often means the process of establishing standards of various kinds and improving efficiency to handle people, their interactions, cases, and so forth. Examples include formalization of judicial procedure in court, and establishing uniform criteria for diagnosing mental disease. Standardization in this sense is often discussed along with (or synonymously to) such large-scale social changes as modernization, bureaucratization, homogenization, and centralization of society.

===Customer service===
In the context of [[customer service]], standardization refers to the process of developing an international standard that enables organizations to focus on customer service, while at the same time providing recognition of success{{clarify|date=August 2016}} through a third party organization, such as the [[British Standards Institution]]. An international standard has been developed by [[The International Customer Service Institute]].

===Supply and materials management===
{{See also|Supply chain sustainability}}
In the context of [[supply chain management]] and [[materials management]], standardization covers the process of specification and use of any item the company must buy in or make, allowable substitutions, and [[build or buy]] decisions.

==Process==
{{morerefs|section|date=November 2025}}
The process of standardization can itself be standardized. There are at least four levels of standardization: compatibility, [[interchangeable parts|interchangeability]], [[commonality]] and [[reference]]. These standardization processes create compatibility, similarity, measurement, and symbol standards.

There are typically four different techniques for standardization
* Simplification or variety control
* Codification
* [[Value engineering]]
* [[Statistical process control]].

Types of standardization process:
* Emergence as [[de facto standard]]: [[tradition]], market domination, etc.
* Written by a [[Standards organization]]:
** in a closed consensus process: Restricted membership and often having formal procedures for due-process among voting members
** in a full consensus process: usually open to all interested and qualified parties and with formal procedures for due-process considerations<ref>{{cite web |url-status=live |website=ISO |title=Developing standards |access-date=June 22, 2016 |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622185137/http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development.htm |archive-date=2016-06-22 }}</ref>
* Written by a government or regulatory body
* Written by a corporation, union, trade association, etc.
* Agile standardization. A group of entities, themselves or through an association, creates and publishes a draft version shared for public review based on actual examples of use.

==Effects==
Standardization has a variety of benefits and drawbacks for firms and consumers participating in the market, and on technology and innovation.

===Effect on firms===
The primary effect of standardization on firms is that the basis of competition is shifted from integrated systems to individual components within the system. Prior to standardization a company's product must span the entire system because individual components from different competitors are incompatible, but after standardization each company can focus on providing an individual component of the system.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|pages=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n239 232]–233|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> When the shift toward competition based on individual components takes place, firms selling tightly integrated systems must quickly shift to a modular approach, supplying other companies with subsystems or components.<ref>{{cite book|last=Christensen|first=Clayton M.|title=The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth|url=https://archive.org/details/innovatorssoluti00chri|url-access=registration|date=2003|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/innovatorssoluti00chri/page/140 140]|author2=Michael E. Raynor |isbn=978-1-57851-852-4 }}</ref>

===Effect on consumers===
Standardization has a variety of benefits for consumers, but one of the greatest benefits is enhanced network effects. Standards increase compatibility and interoperability between products, allowing information to be shared within a larger network and attracting more consumers to use the new technology, further enhancing network effects.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n236 229]|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> Other benefits of standardization to consumers are reduced uncertainty, because consumers can be more certain that they are not choosing the wrong product, and reduced lock-in, because the standard makes it more likely that there will be competing products in the space.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n237 230]|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> Consumers may also get the benefit of being able to mix and match components of a system to align with their specific preferences.<ref name="Shapiro 1999 233">{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n240 233]|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> Once these initial benefits of standardization are realized, further benefits that accrue to consumers as a result of using the standard are driven mostly by the quality of the technologies underlying that standard.<ref>J. Gregory Sidak, ''The Value of a Standard Versus the Value of Standardization'', 68 BAYLOR L. REV. at 3 (Forthcoming 2016), https://www.criterioneconomics.com/the-value-of-a-standard-versus-the-value-of-standardization.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010215246/https://www.criterioneconomics.com/the-value-of-a-standard-versus-the-value-of-standardization.html |date=2016-10-10 }}.</ref>

Probably the greatest downside of standardization for consumers is lack of variety. There is no guarantee that the chosen standard will meet all consumers' needs or even that the standard is the best available option.<ref name="Shapiro 1999 233"/> Another downside is that if a standard is agreed upon before products are available in the market, then consumers are deprived of the penetration pricing that often results when rivals are competing to rapidly increase market share in an attempt to increase the likelihood that their product will become the standard.<ref name="Shapiro 1999 233"/> It is also possible that a consumer will choose a product based upon a standard that fails to become dominant.<ref>Cowan, Robin. "High Technology and the Economics of Standardization." Paper presented at the International Conference on Social and Institutional Factors Shaping Technological Development: Technology at the Outset, Berlin, Germany, May 27–28, 1991. p. 20.</ref> In this case, the consumer will have spent resources on a product that is ultimately less useful to him or her as the result of the standardization process.

===Effect on technology===
Much like the effect on consumers, the effect of standardization on technology and innovation is mixed.<ref>{{cite web|last=Blind|first= K. |year=2013|title= The impact of standardisation and standards on innovation |id =NESTA Working Paper 13/15|website= NESTA |url = https://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_impact_of_standardization_and_standards_on_innovation.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170829215500/https://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_impact_of_standardization_and_standards_on_innovation.pdf |archive-date = 29 August 2017}}</ref> Meanwhile, the various links between research and standardization have been identified,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blind |first1=K. |last2=Gauch |first2=S. | year=2009 |title=Research and standardisation in nanotechnology: evidence from Germany|journal=The Journal of Technology Transfer|issue=3|volume= 34|pages=320–342|doi=10.1007/s10961-008-9089-8|s2cid=154210261 }}</ref> also as a platform of knowledge transfer<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blind |first1=K. |last2=Mangelsdorf|first2=A.|year=2016|title=Motives to standardize: Empirical evidence from Germany|journal=Technovation|volume=48–49|pages=13–24|doi=10.1016/j.technovation.2016.01.001|doi-access=free}}</ref> and translated into policy measures (e.g. [http://www.bmwi.de/DE/service,did=746982.html WIPANO]).

Increased adoption of a new technology as a result of standardization is important because rival and incompatible approaches competing in the marketplace can slow or even kill the growth of the technology (a state known as [[market fragmentation]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n270 264]|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> The shift to a modularized architecture as a result of standardization brings increased flexibility, rapid introduction of new products, and the ability to more closely meet individual customer's needs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Christensen|first=Clayton M.|title=The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth|url=https://archive.org/details/innovatorssoluti00chri|url-access=registration|date=2003|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|pages=[https://archive.org/details/innovatorssoluti00chri/page/131 131–132]|author2=Michael E. Raynor |isbn=978-1-57851-852-4 }}</ref>

The negative effects of standardization on technology have to do with its tendency to restrict new technology and innovation. Standards shift competition from features to price because the features are defined by the standard. The degree to which this is true depends on the specificity of the standard.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Carl|title=Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|url=https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752|url-access=limited|date=1999|publisher=Harvard Business School Press|location=Boston, Mass|page=[https://archive.org/details/informationrules00shap_752/page/n238 231]|author2=Hal R. Varian |isbn=978-0-87584-863-1 }}</ref> Standardization in an area also rules out alternative technologies as options while encouraging others.<ref>Cowan, Robin. "High Technology and the Economics of Standardization." Paper presented at the International Conference on Social and Institutional Factors Shaping Technological Development: Technology at the Outset, Berlin, Germany, May 27–28, 1991. p. 12</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI)
* [[ASTM]]
* [[Conformity assessment]]
* [[Cost accounting#Standard cost accounting|Cost accounting,standard costs]]
* [[Embrace, extend and extinguish]]
* [[Environmental standard]]
* [[Harmonization (standards)]]
* [[International Classification for Standards]] (ICS)
* [[International Organization for Standardization]]
* [[International standard]]
* [[Interoperability]]
* [[ISO 14000 | ISO 14000 standards]] - a family of [[environmental management]] standards
* [[ISO 22000]] - a [[food safety]] standard
* [[Java Community Process]] - ''The Java Community Process(SM) Program''
* [[Metrology]]
* [[Network effect]]
* [[Open format]]
* [[Open standard]]
* [[Open system (computing)|Open system]]
* [[OpenDocument]]
* [[Infrastructure|Quality infrastructure]]
* [[Standard gauge]]
* [[Standard (metrology)]]
* [[Standards organization]]s
* [[Technical standard]]
* [[Transport standards organisations|Transport standards organizations]]
* [[United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names]]
* [[Vendor lock-in]]
* [[World Standards Day]] 


{{Div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Dickson |first1=E. W. |last2=Singh |first2=S. |last3=Cheung |first3=D. S. |last4=Wyatt |first4=C. C. |last5=Nugent |first5=A. S. |year=2008 |title=Application of Lean Manufacturing Techniques in the Emergency Department |journal=Journal of Emergency Medicine |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=177–182 |doi=10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.11.108 |pmid=18722732 }}
* Kellermann, Martin (2019). [https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/249621553265195570-0090022019/original/FullQIToolkitReport.pdf Ensuring Quality to Gain Access to Global Markets: A Reform Toolkit](PDF). International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Standards Chapter, pages 45-68. ISBN 978-1-4648-1372-6.
*{{cite book |last=Langenberg |first=T. |year=2005 |title=Standardization and Expectations |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=3-540-28112-6 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=C. N. |last2=Yates |first2=J. |year=2008 |title=The International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Global Governance Through Voluntary Consensus |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-77429-1 }}
* {{cite web|last=Russell|first=Andrew L.|url=http://www.arussell.org/papers/futuregeneration-russell.pdf|title=Standardization in History: A Review Essay With an Eye to the Future|date=9 August 2013|access-date=23 January 2014|archive-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228081445/http://www.arussell.org/papers/futuregeneration-russell.pdf|url-status=live}} {{unreliable source?|date=January 2014}}
*{{cite journal |last= Wenzlhuemer |first= Roland |year= 2010 |title= The History of Standardisation in Europe |journal= [[European History Online]] |url= http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0159-20100921441 |access-date= 2012-06-13 |archive-date= 2016-11-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161110233133/http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0159-20100921441/ |url-status= live }}
{{refend}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|standardization|standardisation}}
* {{cite web | work = COoperation Platform for Research And Standards (COPRAS project) | url =http://www.w3.org/2004/copras/docu/D15.html#benefits | title = Benefits of standards and standardization }}
* {{cite web | work = COoperation Platform for Research And Standards (COPRAS project) | url =http://www.w3.org/2004/copras/docu/faq/faq03.html | title = Which type of standards should my project pursue }}
* International Organization for Standardization
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://www.iso.org/benefits-of-standards.html | title = Benefits of Standards }}
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100440.html | title = Good Standardization Practices (GSP) }}
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://docplayer.net/23885374-International-standards-and-private-standards.html | title = International standards and private standards}}
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://www.iso.org/publication-list.html | title = Publications }}
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://library.iso.org/home.html | title = Research Library }}
** {{cite web | work = ISO | url = https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100456.html | title = Standards & economic growth }}
* {{cite web | work = European Committee for Standardization (CEN) | url = http://www.cen.eu/cenorm/news/standardsmyths/index.asp | title = Standards Myths | access-date = 8 July 2009 }}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Standards]]
[[Category:Second Industrial Revolution| ]]