May 2020

BY Neil Pattemore I t is often true that those things that work best are the ones that you never pay attention to – they just work. A simple example in the workshop would be connecting your diagnostic tool to a vehicle and running a diagnostic test. An everyday activity that is a fundamental part of your business, but I will bet that very few of you are aware of the levels of standardisation behind this simple activity that makes it all quick and easy – and at an affordable price. Interface In the automotive sector there are many standards, but to run your diagnostic test routines, many (if not all) of the following are implemented. Firstly, there is the standardized OBD connector (ISO 15031), then the standardised vehicle communication interface (VCI) that connects from the OBD port to the diagnostic tool (SAE 2534 or ISO 22900), then the diagnostic protocol used over k-line (ISO 14230), or the in-vehicle CAN networks (ISO 11898), or the diagnostics over CAN (ISO 15765) which use the diagnostic services embedded in a vehicle (Unified diagnostic services - ISO 14229), or the increasingly common ethernet communication for Diagnostic communication over Internet Protocol (DoIP – ISO 13400) or some newer standards that reflect the changes in vehicle design and technology, such as World-Wide Harmonized On-Board Diagnostics (ISO 27145)... I could go on, but I think that you get the picture. Some of these standards are mandated in European vehicle Type Approval legislation, but most of them have been implemented voluntarily by the vehicle manufacturers. Influence It is also worth understanding how standards are developed and to understand what influences exist. Firstly, there are number of national and international standardisation organisations. These include the British Standards Institute (BSi) based in West London who develop UK standards, but who are also the UK ‘Mirror Committee’ as a part of the European standards organisations - The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC), both based in Brussels. Other automotive sector standards are developed by the IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association, as well as ETSI - The European Telecommunications Standards Institute, but there is also the North American SAE – The Society of Automotive Engineers. However, the largest by far is International Standards Organisation, much better known as ISO, which was formed from an initial meeting in 1946 and subsequently officially founded in 1947 by a group of delegates from 25 countries. The 67 original technical committees of ISO came together with a unified goal of ensuring products and services are safe, reliable, and of good quality. Since 1947, ISO have published nearly 23,000 International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology and business. Today they have members from 164 countries and about 135 people work full time at their Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. Independent The development of a new standard starts with a new work item proposal (NWIP), which describes the scope and purpose of why a standard is needed. As long as there are no existing standards which may directly overlap with the scope of the NWIP, and there is sufficient support from National Mirror Committees, then the process to create a standard starts. Once started, it is normally a three- year process and is basically a group of independent technical experts nominated by the national mirror committees who work together in a dedicated working group that follows a structured framework to discuss, agree and develop the standard. During this structured development there are various stages where voting takes place – firstly during the working group meetings and then at the national mirror committee level for specific stages in the development 14 AFTERMARKET MAY 2020 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net STANDARDS – WHO NEEDS THEM? The world is run on agreed standards, and the way things operate across the automotive sector is no exception, but how does that affect you?

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