Difference the BSI has made
It's difficult to imagine how mass production of goods and services could have been truly effective without a central body drawing up and setting industry standards and specifications.
A technical standard means a business knows exactly what a product or service is meant to do. This means it's possible to predict accurately how something will fit into a process.
Almost all the most successful business standards in the world were originally British standards – BSI is acknowledged to have led the field in this work.
How standards setting developed
Since its foundation in 1901 as the Engineering Standards Committee, BSI has played a key role in creating and setting technical standards.
In 1942 the UK government recognised BSI as the sole organisation for issuing standards in Britain. By 1946 the now-official BSI hosted a standards conference in London for Commonwealth countries. The event led to the founding of the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
Increased interest in setting standards for consumer goods led to the founding of the Women's Advisory Committee in 1951.
1955 saw the opening of a BSI Kitemark test centre in Hemel Hempstead – the same year as new government regulations were introduced for Kitemarks on car seat belts and cycling helmets.
By the 1970s BSI was starting to focus on management quality systems. The organisation published BS 5750, a standard which led to the ISO 9000 series of international standards.
ISO 9001 is credited with benefiting businesses around the world. Users are said to report increased growth and productivity as well as higher customer satisfaction.
BSI currently has 1,200 committees, covering everything from robot ethics to children's toys.