The Impact of the New SI on Industry

There is a draft resolution from the General Conference of Weights and Measures (CGPM) inviting the International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM) to propose a revision of the International System of Units (SI). While the actual implementation of any such change is still years away, it is important to plan how the communication of the changes and implementation of the revision would actually occur. The proposed revision to the SI has been widely discussed at National Measurement Institutes (NMI’s) and to a lesser extent, industry. Although the magnitude of the changes in the proposal are generally too small to be seen by most industrial organizations, it is important to communicate why the change is being made, how it will occur, and what organizations must do in order to maintain traceability to the SI. This paper provides background information regarding the possible changes to the SI, and Fluke’s role in realizing the changes. It identifies industrial measurements that may be significantly affected by a redefinition, and addresses the roles and responsibilities that organizations such as the NCSLI and companies like Fluke have to effectively communicate the revision of the SI to industry measurement professionals.