Transcript Metrology policies to foster the competitiveness of industry

HIGH COUNCIL FOR ECONOMY,
INDUSTRY, ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGIES
Metrology policies to foster the competitiveness of
industry
J.F. Magaña
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Summary
Existing reports
Impact of metrology on economy and society
Steering Committees of Metrology institutes
Technology transfer
Enabling new technologies
Support to innovation
Improving the design of products
Improving the efficiency of processes
Partnership between donors of order and subcontractors
Quality of manufactured products
Conclusions
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Existing reports
International:
 Blevin report (BIPM)
 Kaarls report (BIPM)
 Birch reports (OIML)
Regional:
 European Metrology Research Programme (EURAMET)
National:
 UK reports (see NMO web site)
 French reports (see bibliography, maganajf.org/metrology)
See also
http://www.bipm.org/fr/practical_info/useful_links/impact.html
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Impact of metrology on economy and society
 Scientific research
 Product design and innovation
 Product conformity
 Optimization of processes
 Health
 Energy
 Environment
 Safety
 Working conditions
 Economic flows
 Protection of citizens
 Everyday’s life
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Steering Committees of Metrology Institutes
The priorities of the Institutes must be assessed against
several criteria:
 Fostering scientific skills of the Institute,
 Image of the institute at international level,
 Support to the public policies of the government (health, safety,
consumer protection, environment, etc.),
 Support to technological changes in the industry,
 Support to the competitiveness of industry.
The Committee that advises on these priorities should
include representatives of major sectors of the national
industry
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Technology transfer
Research work and developments in the metrology
institutes usually result in devices that may be used and
produced by the industry.
The institutes should :
 Identify such developments that can be transferred,
 Have a policy concerning the intellectual property (licensing or
not?)
 Publish information about the opportunities offered to the
industry,
 Look for industries able and willing to produce these devices,
 Assist these industries to start this.
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Enabling new technologies
New technologies need developments :
 in the national metrology institutes, and
 at industry level.
This is the case for :
 nanotechnologies,
 medical applications,
 environmental technologies,
 etc.
National institute must address these needs
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Support to innovation
To be successful on the markets, innovative products
need to be supported by:
 Characterization of their advantages, which needs
measurements,
 Description of their performances in a normative document,
 Demonstration of their conformity by a certification process,
which again needs measurements.
Metrology is then an essential tool for a policy to support
innovation.
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Improving product design
Value Analysis and Design to Cost are quite efficient
techniques to design competitive products.
The functions of the product must be assorted with
specified performances and methods of evaluation, which
clearly pertain to metrological activities.
It is then essential that designers carry out a metrological
study to define the required functional performances of
the product and their measurement.
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Improving product design (2)
Risk analysis is a key discipline for the quality and
reliability of products. It allows to better identify the critical
points in the detailed design of a product and to reduce
risks of failure and of non conformance.
This results in a definition of tolerances and key factors to
control in order to assure the quality of products, and in a
definition of the most appropriate measurements to carry
out in production, avoiding useless controls and focusing
on the necessary ones.
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Process efficiency
The efficiency of the production process is clearly a key
factor of competitiveness.
Saving energy and raw materials, considering the
increasing costs of these factors, is a major challenge for
the industries, and also a major challenge for the
environment.
By measuring appropriately the parameters of the
production process, and optimizing them for example
with Value Analysis applied to the process, industries can
dramatically save costs.
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Donors of order and subcontractors
In many cases, the product requirements imposed by
donors of order to subcontractors are overspecified. They
often lead the subcontractors to:
 Either apply manufacturing standards that are more costly than
necessary, and in a number of cases, face financial difficulties,
 Or be obliged to ask for derogations when the production does
not comply with these specifications, and risk to be struck off
the list of subcontractors.
A constructive dialog between donors of order and
subcontractors about product specifications will result in
a better efficiency, an increased confidence and in
profitability for both.
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Quality of manufactured products
Appropriate measurements are necessary to assure the
quality of manufactured products and to demonstrate it.
ISO 9001-2008 standard includes requirements on
measuring equipment (7.6), but also quite important
requirements on monitoring and measurement of
processes (8.2.3) and of products (8.2.4).
These aspects are too often poorly known both by
industries and by the assessors of QS certification
bodies.
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Conclusions
Policies developed by the governments to improve the
impact of metrology on the competitiveness of industries
should take into account all these aspects by addressing
metrology in the following domains:
 Strategy and objectives of national institutes,
 Policy of support to new technologies,
 Policy of support to innovation,
 Promotion of quality management,
 Training and consultancy to the industries,
 Initial training of engineers.
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More information
http://www.maganajf.org/metrology
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