What does the U.S. TAG to IEC/TC 56 do?
The purpose of IEC/TC 56 is to develop international standards in the field of dependability. This covers reliability, availability, and maintainability during the life cycle of a product, including obsolescence. These standards cover the management, tools, and methods needed to achieve and ensure the dependability of products, including software, electronics, mechanical, and electro-mechanical devices.
Some standards of IEC/TC56 cover:
- Reliability prediction
- Weibull analysis,
- Fault tree analysis,
- Failure mode and effects analysis,
- Formal design review,
- Product recall guides,
- Statistical design of reliability tests,
- Reliability tests including accelerated life, reliability and maintainability management,
- Maintainability standards,
- Maintenance support,
- Planning, logistics, analysis, and determination of spares.
An individual is a member of a National Committee (NC) and each NC represents its nation's electro-technical interests in IEC standardization work. In the United States this NC is called the USNC, and the national committee is the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to IEC/Technical Committee (TC) 56.
The U.S. TAG to IEC/TC 56 votes on, and helps create, the U.S. position on the "dependability" topics being developed as standards. As a member of TC56, an individual receives copies of the standards being developed and provides input on the standard proposal being balloted. Each member’s vote is reviewed and forms part of the U.S. position on the standard.
The U.S. TAG to IEC/TC 56 designates individuals to participate as members of Working Groups (WG). IEC/TC 56 WGs are:
- Dependability terminology
- Dependability techniques (tools)
- Dependability management
- System dependability
As a member of a WG, an individual becomes involved in the actual standard development and serves as a technical expert. This involvement requires that the individual be able to attend meetings with other technical experts to develop the standard.
If you’re interested in participating, or have additional questions, please e-mail the ASQ Standards Team, at standards@asq.org.
