Innovation beyond the ISO standard

Engineers must look beyond ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) standards when developing and implementing industrial solutions, says SMC Pneumatics, a leading manufacturer of pneumatic control devices.

“ISO standards are undoubtedly valuable and set important industry benchmarks and controls; however, it doesn’t always the deliver the best product solution," commented Bill Blyth, OEM – Key Accounts Manager for SMC Pneumatics (Australia) Pty Ltd.

“Designers and manufacturers often have to think outside the box and then it is important to look beyond ISO to realise product development excellence and ultimately leading industrial solutions.”

ISO, an independent non-governmental organisation (NGO), publishes standards that cover almost every industry and has a membership of 163 national bodies. To date, the organisation has published more than 21,000 standards and related documents covering a myriad of industries and applications.

One standard, one approach?

According to SMC Pneumatics, ISO standards must in some cases be set aside when it doesn’t address the requirements of an application or excludes important criteria crucial to the design process. “Trying to conform to a standard can compromise the design or process requirements and ultimately the final product," explained Blyth.

“ISO sometimes falls short due to the sheer scope of industries and standards it has to cover. That’s why at SMC we believe it comes down to fully understanding the application of a product and then designing it to be as safe and efficient as possible.”

For example, in the food and beverage sector, hygiene is paramount and the resultant ISO standards place it at the top of the priority list. However, ISO standards for pneumatic valve and cylinder design ISO don’t specify hygienic design, which means manufacturers could miss out on important criteria if they follow the standards to the letter.

Safe, not necessarily

The perception is that ISO-compliant products are safe, readily available, cost competitive and can be interchanged with other brands. Also, industry players believe they mitigate the risk of developing orphaned products if they meet the necessary standards.

This isn’t necessarily true says SMC; products should be developed to deliver optimal features and performance and not whether they tick all the industry standard boxes.

“We engineer our products around applications and not the other way around. At SMC, we assist our customers with selecting the correct components and offer options and solutions that meet their specific applications.”

The SMC Series EVS1 valves, for example, comply with the standard ISO15407-1 (Size 01 or Size 02), which includes both size and mounting; however, it also includes features that exceed the ISO specification. These include: clean design; M12 Connector/M8 Connector connections; rubber and metal seal options; lighter weight; and a dust/splash proof design (IP67).

SMC also offers a range of cylinders including the SMC Series C96/CP96 (which meet ISO standard 15552) and the SMC Series C85 (which meets ISO standard 6432). While they do meet the relevant standards, where necessary the company is prepared to modify these items beyond ISO specifications.

This approach provides SMC with the freedom to make the best cylinder for each application. It allows customers to meet specific machine requirements in areas like piston rod modifications; cylinder mounting modifications; corrosion-resistant design; barrel, end cap and porting modifications; and additional rod wiper solutions.

SMC is excited to form part of Auspack, which will be held from 7–10 March 2017 at the Sydney Showground. Visit SMC at Stand 57.