IIW History 1948-1958

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In addition , each country asked t o participat e in joint research work is only required t o undertake a part of the whole investigation. 'vVhen a national dele– gation submits its own results at an international meeting, its delegates can bring back the fruits of work carried out elsewhere and the t ot al return is thus greatl y increased. In construction p roper, the fact that the IIVV prepares wo rk to facilitat e the t ask of I SO means that, before the actual st andards a re adopted, each country is in a position t o adopt with safet y criteria comparable with those used abroad for the product s t o be constructed. It is, of course, true that the impact of the IIVV on welding engineering societies and welding research organisations in the different countries is unequal. Obviously, this impact is influenced by geographic considerations and by the t echnical development of each country , as well as by the closeness with which the t echnical activities of a country p arallel those of the fifteen commissions of the IIW. There is a t endency in some countries t o act quickly upon even p relimina ry recommendations from the IIW as regards the co ntinuation of their researches, the organisation of enquiries, the collection of info rmation and the development of codes and specifications. In other countries, where activities or committees parallel with those of the II'vV do not exist, t here is a t endency t o creat e such committees and in the meantime collaboration may t ake various fo rms. It sometimes happens that IIW proposals are not in ha rmony with existing· a rrangements in a member country, and this fo r many reasons which may be t o do with the particular cust oms of that country or with circumst ances peculia r t o its industrial organisation. But it is still useful t o compare various· views and t o see how, at an international level, opinions are divided between the diff– erent countries . As regards cocles and specificaLions, the II'vV only puts fo rward suggestions; where international st andardisation is concerned, these suggestions a re fo rwarded t o the appropriat e committees of I SO which is alone qualified t o· draw up the t ext s of recommendations in this field, agreement being obtained in accorda nce with a relatively slow but very careful p rocedure. In this exchange of info rmation , all is profit ; thus the B ibliogi-aphical B'ulletin of the IIW makes it unnecessary t o go syst ematically through the t ech– nical literature dealing with welding and t o abstract it, a t as k which linguistic obst acles oft en make difficult. Similarly, the IIW's multilingual dictionaries provide those who use them with precisely equivalent t erms in other languages , thus preventing misunderst andings and errors at scientific, t echnical and eco– nomic levels. This excha nge should be looked upo n in its b roadest aspect s. It means not only th e exchange of factual dat a and experiences, but also of new ideas in the form of hypotheses and suggestions fo r further research. The cont act s bet ween nations t a ke the most diverse forms. As a res ult of the liaisons est ablished within the IIW, the national organisations which a re me111 be rs of it derive advantages from. compa ring the possibilities open t o them. 'vVe may recall here the import ant part which they played in connexion ·with the OEEC productivity missions mentioned in Chapt er III. The purpose of the first mission, which was composed of E uropean experts, was t o study, during a t our of the United Stat es, the progress made in applying we.lcling industrially and in scientific research in that cou nt ry. In fact , one of the great est v irtues of the II'vV is perhaps that it p rovides a. mechanism fo r the exchange of.info rmation and the stimulation of further research..