On November 15, 2015, ISO 17449:2015 "Road Vehicles — Safety Glazing Materials — Test Method for Performance of Electrically Heated Glass," the first international standard for China's glass industry and the first for China's automotive industry, led by China Building Materials Test and Certification Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as CTC), was published and implemented. The successful publication of this standard provides strong support for enhancing China's international standardization level in glass and shaping a good image of China's glass industry, and has sounded the clarion call for China's glass industry to march into international standardization.

After four years of multiple discussions, demonstrations, and revisions, the Test Method for Performance of Electrically Heated Glass finally passed the review of the International Organization for Standardization and was published and implemented. This standard summarizes and integrates the technical methods used by various countries for measuring the performance of automotive electrically heated glass. By standardizing technical details such as test instruments, test procedures, calculation methods, and data processing, it provides a scientific method for determining the performance of automotive electrically heated glass, improves the universality of automotive electrically heated glass technology and the safety, efficiency, and stability of its application, and achieves international unification in technology. This is of great significance for promoting overall technological progress in the field of automotive electrically heated glass, safeguarding driving safety, promoting international exchanges and cooperation, and enhancing China's discourse power and influence in the field of international standardization.

Rising to Difficulties and Bravely Meeting Challenges

In recent years, China's glass deep-processing technology has matured, and the domestic and international market share of automotive electrically heated glass has achieved steady growth. However, the testing of the electrical heating performance of automotive electrically heated glass has all been carried out using the enterprise standards of individual automobile manufacturers. These standards differ in their provisions on test methods; some items are not very different, but others are completely different. Testing methods used by glass enterprises in different regions of the world are even more varied. At the end of 2009, the National Center for Quality Supervision and Inspection of Safety Glass and Quartz Glass, which is affiliated with CTC, proposed the development of an international standard for related items and a proposal to standardize electrical heating performance test methods, and at the same time began intensive preparatory work. In December 2010, Shi Xinyong, Chairman of the Safety Glazing Subcommittee of the National Technical Committee for Automotive Standardization (SAC/TC114/SC9) and registered expert of ISO/TC22/SC11, led a delegation to attend the annual meeting of ISO/TC22/SC11 held in Detroit and proposed the development of a test method for the electrical heating performance of automotive electrically heated glass. Regarding this proposal, some countries immediately expressed doubts about its motivation. Although some countries did not express their position at the time, they also clearly expressed their doubts and concerns. From the beginning of 2011 to April 2011, the secretariat of the Safety Glazing Subcommittee conducted repeated discussions and exchanges via email with experts from the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other countries, and ultimately reached a consensus. At the same time, the secretariat promptly reported the progress of the work to the Standardization Administration of China. In mid-April 2011, the secretariat submitted a formal proposal and relevant supporting materials to the International Cooperation Department of the Standardization Administration of China. The proposal received attention and support from the leadership of the International Cooperation Department, and the materials were quickly submitted to the ISO/TC22 secretariat and project approval voting began. In August 2011, the project was successfully approved through voting. This was an important milestone completed by all staff involved in the standard project with diligence and wisdom.

Planning Strategically and Winning from Afar

Successful project approval was only the beginning; the truly arduous work lay in the subsequent standard drafting process. The improvement and development of relevant testing equipment, extensive experimental verification, data organization, participation in international meetings and explanation and revision of standard clauses at meetings, and so on all required thorough and meticulous work.

After the project was successfully approved, the company quickly prepared and issued project tasks, clearly established a dedicated project team, with Deputy General Manager Shi Xinyong as project leader, appointed a project manager, and organized elite forces to form the project team. Han Song, President of the CTC Glass Institute, clearly proposed training the team's quality through major projects and mobilizing relevant work elites to ensure the target requirements of each milestone in the standard application process. The project team members held serious discussions and made specific divisions of labor, breaking down the project tasks layer by layer so that they had a clear understanding of the tasks. The project team translated existing industry standards for automotive electrically heated glass to prepare supporting evidence for the formal proposal; collected, organized, and compared relevant standards and technical conditions of international organizations and major automobile manufacturers to explain the necessity of the proposal at the technical level; and refined and translated the draft to send key parts of the proposed standard in advance to technical experts of P-member countries for discussion. Sufficient preparatory work laid a solid foundation for successfully entering the CD stage in January 2014.

Advancing Step by Step and Overcoming Technical Difficulties

Each time the standard entered a new stage, the opinions and votes of member countries were required. Because international standards involve the technical and trade interests of various countries, member countries vote very cautiously. The difficult integration of technologies from different countries during the standard development process was a severe challenge.

When this standard moved from the WD stage to the CD stage, the British representative of ISO/TC22/SC35 voted against it. This immediately alerted the standard working group. If the British representative maintained an opposing attitude, or even if the opposition influenced the attitudes of other countries, it would inevitably create numerous obstacles to the smooth progress of the standard. To eliminate future problems, the standard project team decided to visit the British delegation. However, the British representative, considering their own position and technical concerns, declined our request for a visit. After many twists and turns, repeated communications, and coordination through third parties, the British representative finally agreed to our visit request. The United Kingdom has a long history in automotive glass, and the British representative has rich technical experience, making this visit an extremely challenging task. Before the visit, the standard working group analyzed all opinions raised by the United Kingdom since the project was approved, identified the key points behind the UK's negative attitude, and analyzed the opinions of other countries on these technical issues. Following the principle of avoiding technical conflicts as much as possible, multiple contingency solutions were identified. Because our delegation had done sufficient pre-visit work, the visit proceeded methodically, and the two sides quickly reached agreement on solutions to the problems existing in the standard. Finally, the British representative also stated that they would take a favorable attitude toward the international standard Test Method for Performance of Electrically Heated Glass entering the DIS stage. The standard development work finally saw the light again. In June 2014, the standard smoothly entered the DIS stage.

Persevering and Finally Emerging from the Cocoon as a Butterfly

In May 2015, when the standard was steadily moving forward and about to be voted on at the FDIS stage, the U.S. representative raised multiple technical issues. If these issues were not resolved, they would directly affect the smooth entry into the publication stage. At this time, the ISO/TC22/SC35 Automotive Glass Subcommittee was about to reorganize and change its leadership. This meant that the diplomatic relations that the standard project team had worked hard to build over many years would have to be re-established. The arduous task immediately inspired all members of the standard working group to brace themselves and enter the next battle. Finally, at the ISO/TC22/SC35 annual meeting, through mediation among the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, the technical issues were resolved. Under the leadership of Mr. Shi, with the cooperation of personnel at the overseas meeting venue and the domestic expert group, the final draft was submitted to the secretary of ISO/TC22/SC35 on the same day. In June 2015, the standard smoothly entered the FDIS stage.

As the saying goes, “A journey of a hundred miles is only half completed at ninety.” Until the standard was published, the standard project team members would not relax their vigilance at any moment. The standard working group carefully studied the matters needing attention in the publication stage and maintained close contact with the secretariat. The standard was finally published on November 15, 2015.

The successful publication of the standard is inseparable from the correct decisions and support of the leadership, the guidance and assistance of the Standardization Administration of China, and the technical support and assistance of glass manufacturers. It is a beautiful picture painted by all personnel with diligence and wisdom. Through the entire standard development process, we not only trained our technical personnel's capabilities in international standardization activities, but also further realized that only a solid work style and work quality can gain the recognition of foreign peers. This is not merely the completion of one international standard. We hope that through this international standard, we can demonstrate China's R&D level, manufacturing level, and testing level in automotive glass, and at the same time contribute the strength of testing personnel to the global glass industry and create better economic and social benefits for society.