In the article, “ANSI’s Role in the Wide World of Standards,” (Quality Digest, March 12, 2019), we looked at where standards originate and how companies are involved in developing them. In this article, we’ll outline four points that can help your organization integrate standards into your operations.

Once you’ve decided which standards are applicable to your needs, the question becomes whether your team will benefit from centralized access to standards, and how you will manage updates and collaborate. There are basically two ways to license standards: single-use purchase, and subscription. Each has its own pros and cons.

For companies with only one facility, using one or few standards, single-use purchases and opting for small, predefined packages may be the most economical approach. As soon as an organization has multiple facilities or operational teams, subscription-based access can provide critical functionalities that single-use purchases can’t. Standards Connect by ANSI is one such offering that enhances access in these four ways:
1. Search: Standards Connect integrates a comprehensive searchable database of ANSI’s full catalog of standards so you can stay informed about available standards you may wish to add to your subscription as your needs arise.
2. Access: Use filters and saved lists to find and track standards you need.
3. Collaborate: Watch lists let you create and share lists of standards. Standards Connect allows you to add annotations and share for easy collaboration.
4. Manage: Mark frequently used documents as “favorites.” Set alerts to get email updates on individual documents or from content providers.

If your company’s standards access expenditure is in the $2,000 a year (or more) range, and these four benefits will increase efficiency at your organization, subscribing to Standards Connect may be the best solution for you. Centralized access to up-to-date standards for multiple users at one or multiple locations is indispensable to prevent an operational bottleneck.

“Within a larger company that has multiple teams, that might be working on multiple projects, that involve different standards, Standards Connect is a great way for them to stay on top of all of their standards information that those teams might be using, and enables them to do that in a coordinated fashion.”
—Mark Brown, senior director of sales at ANSI