The Aging Standard

By JR (Jon) Rhodes, CFPECS, CFPAI, President of CFC Industrial Training

While leading a recent hydraulic training class that involved sizing and standards, one of the participants was frustrated with the system specifications. The participant inquired as to why the fluid power industry lacks standards compared to other industries. The math associated with sizing system attributes is riddled with the duality of imperial (U.S.) and metric measurement scales. This adds complexity to already challenging circumstances. In class, I struggled to quickly provide a meaningful answer to address these frustrations. I explained the big question as to how we’ve arrived at our present circumstance with many detailed answers.

In 1975 when I was in the 2nd grade, President Jimmy Carter appeared on my tube-type Magnavox TV and said, “The United States will convert to the metric system.” I filled up my gas tank, bought some milk, and checked my tire pressure this morning in the most imperial manner. This is not a fluid power-specific issue, as it poses a challenge for many other industries also. Prior to globalization, regional organizations developed standards specific to their global regions and industry requirements. This regionalization was prevalent in the early days of fluid power and its effects are still wide-reaching today. Of course, there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon and 5,280 feet in a mile; how dare you pose such a question! In Europe, the U.S. customary Olde English imperial measuring systems are loathed. This seems a bit ironic, as Europeans frequently use the bar widely as their “invented” measure of pressure. (100,000 pascals = 1 bar). I’ve also seen the use of cubic decimeters (1 cubic decimeter = 1 liter). No system will ever be perfect, but the verdict is in, and the metric system is superior.

The International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee 131 leads the perpetual journey for a global, unified standard for our industry. They are the preemptive organization for fluid power global standards. At last check, they had 238 developed standards and 31 new standards still under development. The National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) represents the North American market in the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), along with 16 other associations around the globe that form the governing ISO Standards Committee for fluid power. Organically, the use of U.S. customary measurements is slowly declining. ISO standards are driving new applications of fluid power systems to be purely metric. Standardization is about more than just units of measure. It drives the advancement of the industry by providing guardrails for safety and commerce.

Adhering to a single standard can greatly simplify the use of fluid power while removing the barriers in education that help us apply products and systems. The complexities of fluid power systems are increasing as we continue to push forward. As the industry applies new devices and technology, guiding standards must accompany these technologies for standard communications and performance ratings.  Applied and implemented standards for safe operation, interchangeability, and serviceability will help remove unnecessary frustrations and attract top talent into the industry.  New technologies that increase efficiency and autonomy will become impossible to service and difficult to sustain without improved standardization.

At each step in the process of becoming an impressive industry, fluid power has advanced through the many organizations and associations that provide guiding standards. In the U.S., the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is still an impressive, influential global institution.  The fluid power industry continues to be greatly influenced by the North American market. While the argument of U.S. customary versus metric systems will most surely continue, our progress toward achieving global standardization must not be stifled. Top-down, the need for improved efficiency and safety in our industry exists. It all starts with a common set of engineering practices and compliance. It’s important to remember that standards are only worthy if we adhere to them.