that enables organizations to focus on customer service, while at the same time providing recognition of success through a third party organization, such as the British Standards Institution. An international standard has been developed by The International Customer Service Institute. Supply and materials management In the context of supply chain management and materials management, standardization covers the process of specification and use of any item the company must buy in or make, allowable substitutions, and build or buy decisions. Process The process of standardization can itself be standardized. There are at least four levels of standardization: compatibility, interchangeability, commonality and reference. These standardization processes create compatibility, similarity, measurement, and symbol standards. There are typically four different techniques for standardization Simplification or variety control Codification Value engineering Statistical process control. Types of standardization process: Emergence as de facto standard: tradition, market domination, etc. Written by a Standards organization: in a closed consensus process: Restricted membership and often having formal procedures for due-process among voting members in a full consensus process: usually open to all interested and qualified parties and with formal procedures for due-process considerations Written by a government or regulatory body Written by a corporation, union, trade association, etc. Agile standardization. A group of entities, themselves or through an association, creates and publishes a drafted version shared for public review based on actual examples of use. Effects Standardization has a variety of benefits and drawbacks for firms and consumers participating in the market, and on technology and innovation. Effect on firms The primary effect of standardization on firms is that the basis of competition is shifted from integrated systems to individual components within the system. Prior to standardization a company's product must span the entire system because individual components from different competitors are incompatible, but after standardization each company can focus on providing an individual component of the system. When the shift toward competition based on individual components takes place, firms selling tightly integrated systems must quickly shift to a modular approach, supplying other companies with subsystems or components. Effect on consumers Standardization has a variety of benefits for consumers, but one of the greatest benefits is enhanced network effects. Standards increase compatibility and interoperability between products, allowing information to be shared within a larger network and attracting more consumers to use the new technology, further enhancing network effects. Other benefits of standardization to consumers are reduced uncertainty, because consumers