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Now in its second century the British
Standards Institution, the oldest and most respected
National Standards Body in the world celebrated its
centenary in 2001. It was in April 1901 that a group
of forward thinking engineers sat down together in London
to standardise manufacturing processes. The success
of the fledgling Engineering Standards Committee (as
BSI was then called)was dramatic. With the publication
of the first standard for rolled steel sections in 1903
the number of different tramwa sections was cut from
75 to 5. Since those modest beginnings in 1901 our company
has been at the forefront of international innovation
and excellence whilst the Kitemark is BSI s world
renowned as a mark of quality.
The BSI Group of 2002 is well set to compete strongly
in the global market place.
It is a market place that has expanded
rapidly to embrace standards, quality management, certification,
testing and inspections, all areas in which BSI has
a leading presence. It is a market place that encompasses
all sizes of businesses from small companies to multinational
corporations. It is a market place that includes all
industries from heav engineering to information technology
security.
In 1991 we established BSI Inc in T sons Corner North
Virginia to service the Americas and in 1998 the company
moved to offices in Reston, Virginia. BSI Inc. is a
key part of BSI s Management Systems division,
and in early 2002 BSI acquired the ISO registration
business of KPMG Quality Registrars. The acquisition
saw BSI become the number one management systems registrar
in North America, providing a wide range of registration
and certification services in virtually all sectors
of industr including, aerospace, automotive, medical
devices, software, and telecommunications. CEEM, Inc.
provides public and on-site training, consulting and
the sale of standards and publications.
BSI Inc. holds it own accreditations with the Registrar
Accreditation Board (RAB) and Standards Council of Canada
(SCC). They actively contribute to some of the key standards
development initiatives such as AS9000/AS 9100 and TL
9000 as well as other sector-based activities such as
medical devices. This ear BSI Inc. is 11 ears old, maybe
not as old as its parent but maturing to be a vital
part of BSI s future.
In 1998 BSI acquired Inspectorate, a world leader in
commodity inspections. Since then our American operations
based in Houston, Texas have grown to become joint third
in the American commodity inspection business. The development
of new laboratories in Pasadena strengthens further
BSI's inspection capabilities in the USA and reinforces
the Group s commitment to the US markets.
BSI is once again delighted to be associated with the
British American Business Director .
We are very proud of our British heritage but are also
proud to be an established and successful operator in
the USA, the world s largest market place.
British Standards Institution
389 Chiswick High Road
London
W4 4AL
Tel:+44 20 8996 9000
BSI Inc.
12110 Sunset Hills Road
Suite 140
Virginia, 20190 2131
USA Tel:+1 703 437 9000
Stevan Breeze , Managing Director BSI Group
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