ASTM International
Formation 1898
Type International nongovernmental organization
Purpose/focus Standards development
Headquarters West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
Location United States
President James A. Thomas
Website astm.org

ASTM International (previously known as the American Society for Testing Materials) is an organization that develops and publishes international technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services using a voluntary consensus process. ASTM supports thousands of volunteer technical committees, which draw their members from around the world and collectively develop and maintain more than 13,000 standards.

ASTM International publishes the Annual Book of ASTM Standards each year in print, CD-ROM, and online versions. As of June 2013 the print and CD-ROM versions cost U.S. $10,587.[1]

History

ASTM was founded in 1898 as the American Section of the International Association for Testing and Materials[2][3], predating other standards organizations such as BSI Group (1901), Deutsches Institut für Normung (1917), American National Standards Institute (1918), and Association Française de Normalisation (1926). The organization was created by a group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley, to address the frequent rail breaks plaguing the fast-growing railroad industry. Four years later the organization was in full swing, fully incorporated in 1902 as the American Society for Testing Materials.[3]

On December 11, 2001, the organization announced it would change its name to ASTM International to reflect global participation in ASTM and worldwide use of its standards.[4]

In 2009, a joint effort by standards development organizations Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), and ASTM International created a single, centralized database for medical device standards.[5]

Membership and organization

ASTM International is classified by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.[6]

Membership in the organization is open to anyone with an interest in its activities.[7] Standards are developed within committees, and new committees are formed as needed, upon request of interested members. Membership in most committees is voluntary and is initiated by the member's own request. Members are classified as users, producers, consumers, and "general interest," which includes academics and consultants. Users include industry users, who may be producers in the context of other technical committees, and end-users such as consumers. In order to meet the requirements of antitrust laws, producers must constitute less than 50 percent of every committee or subcommittee, and votes are limited to one per producer company. Because of these restrictions, a substantial waiting-list of producers seeking organizational memberships on the more popular committees tends to form. Members can, however, participate without a formal vote, and their input will be fully considered.

As of 2014, more than 30,000 members, including over 1100 organizational members[8], from more than 150 countries make up ASTM International's membership.[9]

The 2014 Chairman of the Board is Thomas A. Schwartz, with James A. Thomas serving as President of ASTM International.[10][11]

Notes

Some elements of this article are reused from the Wikipedia article.

References

  1. ↑ "ASTM International Standards Catalog, June 2013". ASTM International. June 2013. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/astm/standards_201306/#/38. Retrieved 25 March 2014. 
  2. ↑ Noble, David F. (1979). America by Design: Science, Technology, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism. Oxford University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780195026184. http://books.google.com/books?id=LBYlAV6VmpwC&printsec=frontcover. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting - American Society for Testing Materials. Vol. 19, Pt. 1. American Society for Testing Materials. 1919. p. 65–91. http://books.google.com/books?id=jVxOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover. 
  4. ↑ "Name Change Reflects Global Scope" (PDF). ASTM International. 11 December 2001. http://www.astm.org/HISTORY/astm_changes_name.pdf. Retrieved 25 March 2014. 
  5. ↑ "New Database from ANSI, AAMI, ASTM International, and DIN Provides Centralized Source of Information for Medical Device Professionals". PR Newswire. 13 November 2009. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-database-from-ansi-aami-astm-international-and-din-provides-centralized-source-of-information-for-medical-device-professionals-69986577.html. Retrieved 25 March 2014. 
  6. ↑ "2011 ASTM International Annual Report" (PDF). ASTM International. 2011. p. 26. http://www.astm.org/ABOUT/2011ASTM_AnnualReport.pdf. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
  7. ↑ Thomas, James A. (August 2003). "A Simple Decision". ASTM International. http://www.astm.org/PRESIDENT/08_03_simple_decision.html. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
  8. ↑ "Organizational Membership Directory". ASTM International. http://www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP/memborg/index.htm. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
  9. ↑ "About ASTM International". ASTM International. http://www.astm.org/ABOUT/overview.html. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
  10. ↑ "Thomas Schwartz elected chairman of 2014 ASTM Board of Directors". ThomasNet News. Thomas Publishing Company. 7 January 2014. http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/Thomas-Schwartz-elected-chairman-of-2014-ASTM-Board-of-Directors-20019834. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
  11. ↑ "President's Column". ASTM International. http://www.astm.org/PRESIDENT/lead_index.html. Retrieved 26 March 2014. 
source: https://www.limswiki.org/index.php/ASTM_International