The fundamental role of standardization can be illustrated simply by the following story. A president travels to an international heads of state fashion show in France. Every participating president is asked to wear a uniform created by a designer in France. Each contestant must take measurements in his or her country and send the data to the designer in France before the contest.

On the day of fashion show, one president is stuck wearing a humiliating outfit. The trousers are too short and the sleeves are too long. Making matters worse, the other presidents’ clothes are neatly tailored.

The president returns to his home country demanding answers and quickly realizes that the system of measurement system used in his country is different from internationally accepted standards. There is no system of applied standardization in his country. The person who took the president’s measurements had used a non-standard tape ruler.

The above illustration shows how obtuse the incident actually was, but similar things can happen in real life. From this short illustration, we can conclude that standardized measurement is very important in national and international society. Measurements are necessary to make everything standard, and every measurement needs a standard.

One of the most important aspects of standardization is ensuring that products or services are environmentally friendly and safe for humans. For instance, an electronic goods producer must ensure that products from its factory will not harm end users with shocks or dangerous frequencies.

For that reason, national and international standards have an important role in dictating the technical specifications of a product. Furthermore, standardized testing and assessment methods are also important to make sure products meet the necessary specifications.

The recent gas canisters explosions in Indonesia show how product security is not always guaranteed. This is why a good standardization system is essential. In this case, where consumers were encouraged to switch from kerosene to gas, standardization should have been accompanied by socialization efforts aimed at helping citizens understand how to use the equipment safely.

It is useful to learn from Japan’s experience in developing standardization. Japanese industry is supported by a system of standardization that has been in place since the Meiji restoration era. The present Japanese Standards Association (JSA) promotes industrial standardization and quality control through development and publication of Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), which were established after World War II. At present, JIS are widely adopted by many countries. JIS is not only an accessory stamp, but is also a safety assurance for product end users.

When a tenant moves into a new house in Tokyo, a gas company technician will come to activate the gas and provide a manual based on JIS. The technician encourages the tenant to buy JIS standard stoves and JIS standard rubber piping materials to assure the safety of the equipment.

Indonesia began developing a standardization system with the formation of the National Standardization Agency (BSN) in 1997. The National Accreditation Board (BAN) was also established. These agencies are responsible for implementing and monitoring the system of Indonesian National Standards (SNI).

It is important for related government agencies to understand the purpose of the SNI and the actions that are carried out by BSN and BAN, which, for example, might include publishing on YouTube a set of simple explanations on how to safely use a gas canister. This is very useful, although only for computer literate people. Success stories, such as the socialization of the Indonesian Family Planning program, can be adopted as a model for launching a national project on kerosene-to-gas energy conversion.

The second important aspect of standardization is quality measurement and control. Quality measurement systems are the backbone of services and products that are required to meet SNI specifications. Testing and measurement are tools to meet customer expectations.

In the case of SNI for gas canisters, canisters that pass the quality control tests (dimension and pressure) should be safe for consumers, assuming the user is willing to follow safety instructions.

Correct methods of measurement are very important for quality management. Measurements based on international standards must therefore be implemented. Ideally, the use of standardized measurements should produce universal results.

It is important to recognize that standardized products are essential to support global trading. For example, Japanese cars are made up of thousands of parts supplied by several different countries. However, they can only be assembled correctly if every part follows the same standards and measurements.

In Japan, some agencies, including NMIJ/AIST, JEMIC and METI-Designated Calibration Laboratories, have authority to calibrate and evaluate the reference standards of Accredited Calibration Laboratories.

Indonesia has KIM-LIPI as the national metrology institute that maintains the national standard in line with international standards.

In Japan, especially Tokyo, a train can be categorized as late if it is more than two minutes behind schedule. This is incredible scheduling system is successful because every railway company uses calibrated clocks that follow the national standard.

If everybody follows standards and uses proper methods of measurement, dangerous incidents such as the gas canisters explosions, tainted food, or contaminated baby milk would occur far less frequently.

In conjunction with the World Standard Day, we express hope that every Indonesian citizen will have proper access to information on standardization and will understand how important standardization is in supporting our daily lives.

The writer is pursuing Master’s degree at the Department of Precision Engineering, the University of Tokyo.

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