Is the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) still relevant? I have found myself asking this question a lot lately. To be sure, SME has done some great things during its existence but sadly that may no longer be the case. Over the past several months I have had several customers in Houston who are dealing with a ridiculous new regulation. Houston Inspectors are requiring UL Certification for their CNC Machine Tools and are withholding Certificates of Occupancy until it is provided. This is also a classic example of Government run amok. Machine Tools built in the US and imported into the US universally comply with CE requirements and are labeled as such. This is the certification required by the European Union and is far more stringent than any related US requirement. Furthermore, Underwriters Laboratories is NOT qualified to evaluate Machine Tools. In all of my 3+ decade involvement in Manufacturing, not once has this ever been an issue that has come up. I am a Senior Member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). SME is responsible for putting on the Houstex Trade Show at the George R. Brown Center every two years. Not a single Machine Tool on display at the George R. Brown Center during the recent Houstex Trade Show has a UL Certification. The reason is obvious, it is not applicable in any shape or form. Clearly, those in Houston City Government who came up with this requirement are, at best, ignorant and at worst, malevolent in their intent. Establishing this requirement has the effect of forcing manufacturing out of the City of Houston. It is decidedly anti-business and counter productive to the common good. At a time when economic growth and job creation are needed, these regulations do nothing but create an additional expense that serves no valid purpose and drives companies away from Houston. I contacted the Mayor's Office regarding this and was contacted by career bureaucrats in the Public Works & Engineering Dept. They proceeded to speak to me as if this regulation actually made sense and their job in enforcing it was important. Now, one would think that SME would be the FIRST organization to be battling this nonsense. Wrong! I posted a short article about this issue to the SME Group on LinkedIn. I recommended to the Local and National SME Membership that if Houston did not revoke this requirement, Houston should be removed from consideration as the location for any SME sponsored trade show related to Manufacturing. I figured it was the most appropriate way to reach the largest audience and effect a change in policy. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. SME actually deleted my post and has actively worked against my publicizing of this issue. Unfortunately, SME couldn't care less as it has become a political organization more concerned with perpetuating its own existence than promoting manufacturing. More often than not, it is in bed with Federal, State and Local Governments and actually has a hand in promulgating regulations like this. So again I ask the question, Is the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) still relevant? I have my doubts. When they REFUSE to lobby against senseless regulation that is counter-productive and actively work against a member who attempts to bring this issue to the membership, I must conclude that it has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. |
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Is the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) still relevant?
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