Standards 1

[Foxtrap]

Has anyone ever heard of IHS. They are a online company that sell books/technical material(paper and online)on standards. You may also apply for a subscription to browse their document collections. The website is:

http://www.ihs.com/index.html.

Has anyone used their services before? Waste of money?? Yes/No?

 

[MintJulep]

My company subscribes to a similar service, and it is useful.

If you need access to a large number of standards in your work, than this sort of service is worthwhile. If you need only a few, then you are probably better off simply purchasing directly from the issuing body.

 

[unclesyd]

We used IHS by means of a subscription. The service was very good and was especially so if a standard was needed in a hurry.
I don't recall any problems.

 

[GregLocock]

We have a corporate subscription to one such service, and through the IMechE I'm in another.

I guess one or the other every couple of weeks, and the SAE library every couple of days.



Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[IRstuff]

It depends on what you need. If you know exactly what standards you need and are fairly certain that you won't need new ones or different ones on a regular basis, then it's probably cheaper to simply buy them directly.

In our case, we routinely run across referenced standards in procurement documents that we don't already have in hand, in which case, the subscription works well. This also works well for the large number of engineers we have that are scattered in different locations; we don't need to maintain a central repository of hard or soft copies.

TTFN

 

[Tunalover]

Our company subscribes to a service provided by IHS. We download most of the standards we need in PDF format. Our division does not have access to ASME, ASTM, ASM, and other purely industrial standards but we do have access to DoD (MS, MIL-, NAS,...) and "quasi-military" (AMS-SAE-QQ..._) standards adopted by the DoD. I'm sure my division could subscribe to the purely industrial standards but we simply choose not to.

Overall I've found the service to be hassle-free and fast but I'm sure it's expensive.


Tunalover

 

[FredGarvin]

My company subscribes to IHS for the majority of our standards services. We have a huge requirement for specs and standards so to us it's worth it's weight in gold. The only problem I have ever come across is that sometimes all of our licenses are in use and the system locks you out until someone logs out. It can be a pain if people tend to look at something and then leave their desk and not log off. It doesn't happen very often though.

I have also purchased a couple of specs in hard copy from IHS. Again, no issues there either.

 

[TVP]

The services that IHS provide are important for industries where standards must be used and traceability (QS9000, TS16949, etc.) is required. I definitely recommend them if you need access to the most current standards from a number of different SDO's.

 

[yates]

I subscribed to IHS before my Company signed separate contracts with SAE, AIA, ASTM, DIN etc. and found their service very good, and quick. It helps industries where configuration management and traceability are all-important like aerospace. Some useful reductions in purchase price are to be had if you take out a subsription with a fixed list of standards.

 

[IRstuff]

One additional consideration.

One of the tenets of ISO certification is the ability for anyone in the organization to retrieve the most up-to-date documentation and KNOW that it's up to date.

A service like IHS can basically serve as the on-line repository AND configuration management of commercial specifications. This eliminates the problem of keeping track of and updating paper copies of critical specifications.

TTFN

 

[Sparweb]

Caveat Emptor:

IHS will sell you a PDF of Mil-Hdbk-5 for 447$US.

http://global.ihs.com/doc_detail.cf...&input_doc_number=mil-hdbk-5&input_doc_title=

Meanwhile, you can download the same document from ASSIST for FREE.

http://assist.daps.dla.mil/quicksearch/fsc_quicksearch.cfm

Steven Fahey, CET
"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout

 

[rerig]

The MIL-HDBK-5 has been superceeded by:
DOT/FAA/AR-MMPDS-01 (ar-mmpds-01.pdf)

which can be downloaded free also.

 

[arto]

The IHS is great for ASME Code stuff - it's always current, so you don't have to shuffle those colored Addenda pages every 6 months. Also the search feature is great. The time savings of those two things can make it worth it.

The annoying thing is with MILSPECS especially where they've been superceded by SAE etc.
- they have the current one only, & will sell you copies of the previous ones. not too convenient when you just want to browse to see it it's even applicable.
Sooo.... like SPARWEB sez - go to DOD Assist. You can usually get copies of the obsolete specs free there too.

 

[Sparweb]

I've obtained a few SAE standards data sheets, which took over from older MIL standards, and compared the two side-by-side. Differences were few, indeed. Makes one cynical. I doubt that the AMS is making any revolutionary changes to the old QQ-A standards, either.


Steven Fahey, CET
"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout

 

[IRstuff]

It depends on the spec. In many cases, the SAE document is indeed the original MIL spec, verbatim.

TTFN