The metric payoff From the November/December 1996 issue of Metric in Construction, published by the Construction Metrication Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. by Thomas R. Rutherford, PE What is the “payoff” for metric conversion? The answer is different for each organization or industry, but it can be estimated by calculating metrication costs and benefits. Costs […]
Going Metric Makes SenseorYou Can’t Ask a Country to be Imperial and Metric From the April/May 1975 issue of South African Metrication News. Britain is going metric because it makes economic sense. The metric system has been chosen by virtually every country in the world. Many have specified SI and some have already legislated to forbid the use […]
Interview with John Robinson From the March/April 1997 issue of Metric Today. CEO John Robinson, who founded Black Diamond Enterprises Ltd in 1976, says that going metric has helped improve operations at his manufacturing plant, in addition to providing the means to seek export customers. The company manufactures high quality stainless steel carts, shelving, and sinks for the […]
The General Motors Metric Story From the May/June 2007 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. by Don Hillger In 1973 General Motors Corporation (GM) announced its plan to go metric. Metric conversion had been under consideration for some time, but was thought to be too costly as recently as 1967. That, however, changed as automobile manufacturing became more international […]
Xerox and the Metric System From the January/February 2008 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. In the 1960s Xerox began marketing its products outside the US, first in Europe and later in Japan. At the time, it engineered and manufactured its products in the US, but in the 1970s it became apparent that regional design and manufacturing in various […]
Caterpillar realized that the cost of conversion was minimal and would not have been lower had they put it off until later. The company feels that its customers and users have likewise reaped benefits from its gains in going metric. In the end, Caterpillar achieved the goals of making its products more salable worldwide, improving standardization and design, and reducing its production costs.
Conversion experiences in the chemical sector: Cyanamid, DuPont save thousands annually Cyanamid Canada Excerpted from A Case Study on the Cost-Benefit Relationship in Metrication in a Canadian Multi-Product Company, by E. Nelson Vrooman, Cyanamid Canada. Cyanamid Canada Incorporated is a subsidiary of American Cyanamid Company. Our product line in Canada includes five major segments: agricultural products, […]
How IBM went metric From the March/April 2008 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. by Don Hillger In 1972 IBM revealed its program for going metric, with metric measurements gradually becoming the standard in design, test, manufacture, and service. With manufacturing facilities in more than a dozen countries, IBM had been using dual inch/millimeter dimensions on all drawings since 1964, […]
Ingersoll-Rand’s Metrication Plan From the March/April 2009 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. by Don Hillger The Ingersoll-Rand (I-R) Company plan was to convert to metric in 10 to 15 years, in concert with the availability of metric industrial standards in the US. Their corporate plan outlined specific conversion steps. By January 1978, I-R was designing all new products in […]
From the November/December 1997 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. by Joe DeBartolo, CMS Black & Decker made the decision that new products should be designed in metric units in 1979. This occurred when the company’s Corporate hierarchy’s recommendation coincided with government encouragement for companies to “go metric”. Older customary designs were phased out over a period of years, […]
As far back as 1962, (John) Deere and Company considered universal production designs with worldwide application. At the time, factories in metric countries had to convert inch-based drawings, which meant rounding off numbers. In redrawing, not only is there a waste of time, but mistakes are likely, and there is a real chance of costly […]
Ford Motor Company’s switch to metric From the May/June 2017 issue of USMA’s Metric Today. by Don Hillger In 1971, Ford announced plans to produce a metrically-designed four-cylinder engine for its Pinto model. This was the first production engine designed and built in the US that made complete use of metric engineering standards and achieved compatibility of parts […]