Standards are an important tool for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and at the same time, micro, small and medium-sized companies play an important role in standardization.
Standards ensure stability.
- Companies that align their products and services with the requirements of relevant standards provide the most advanced products or services that are highly marketable.
Standards ensure reliability to small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Companies that apply standards actually make use of reliable and widely accepted expertise and are aware of the requirements to be met by their products and services so they can prove their reliability and safety by means of standardized testing methods.
Standards facilitate market access for SMEs
- Standards ensure fair competition through harmonized specifications for both big and small enterprises.
Standards mean new opportunities
- Standards assist companies in designing new products that are compatible with other products. They help achieve otherwise hardly attainable goals.
Economic growth
- International studies show that standards contribute about 25 % to economic growth, which is more than patents and licenses together.
Market expansion
- European and international standards transcend national borders. They facilitate access to new markets. European standards are fundamental for the establishment of the single European market. Further, they help eliminate different national requirements and procedures for product testing and services.
Dissemination of knowledge
- Standards document the current state of the art in technology and business. The knowledge and experience are available to everybody so that the latest scientific developments and innovations can find their way into the economic practice.
Communication
- Standardized terms and definitions ensure clarity and easy understanding. They are the language of international economy. Standards simplify communication between users from different fields of activity and even beyond national borders.
Fair competition
- Uniform standards create a level playing field for all market participants. They ensure fair competition and equal requirements for entering the market. They are the cornerstone of market economy.
Innovations
- Standards define what is the latest state of the art or code of good practice in non-technical areas. They therefore provide a basis for innovation and improvement.
Safety
- Standards make business and everyday life safer. They support legislation and help prevent, eliminate or reduce different hazards to human life and health and the environment. Moreover, they establish trust in business relations.
General framework
- By participating in standards development experts in a particular field define what is economically viable and technically and environmentally feasible and appropriate. In dialogue with other stakeholders, they establish a general framework for their business or organization and their economic sector.djetja, katerih proizvodi so v skladu s standardi, so lahko prepričana, da so njihovi izdelki ali storitve najsodobnejši in zato "tržni".
