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Conformity to regulatory or standard requirements is demonstrated through conformity assessment activities, such as product testing. Product testing is the process of determining one or more characteristics of materials or processes in accordance with a reference, such as standards or regulations stated in a report or test certificate. As a means of ensuring the quality, safety, and security of a product (goods or services), testing is gaining currency in international commerce. It is anticipated that the acceptability of the testing results will not become a national or international trade barrier. This study seeks to determine the conditions and maturity level of product testing in Indonesia using the Comprehensive Diagnostic Tool-Annex to the PTB Germany's Quality Improvement Toolkit. The instrument was utilized through case studies in Indonesian-accredited testing laboratories. The average score of 3.2 indicates that the current state of testing activity in Indonesia is still not optimal. To facilitate trade, research, and innovation, improvements must be made to the pillars and aspects of Indonesia's infrastructure building blocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard life cycle consists of three stages: standards development, implementation, and maintenance. Standard maintenance is carried out at least once every five years after the standard has been established to ensure it is up-to-date. The national standard for coffee beans is13 years old and must be maintained to control the quality of the product in circulation. This research aims to develop a standardization framework including technical requirements for coffee bean quality to be adjusted based on user experience and needs. These quality parameter recommendations help to design the standard. Determination of the main parameters that represent the experience and needs of each stakeholder is essential in the standardization process. This research was conducted in a qualitative descriptive manner using the Kansei Engineering approach through the Framework for Analysis, Comparison, and Testing of Standards (FACTS) method, which includes four main stages: stakeholder analysis, technical analysis, comparison with international standard parameters, and testing of quality parameters proposed. The result of this research is a framework that can be used to maintain coffee bean standards in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of standards has been widely applied by companies or organizations including SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). Most of them are aware of the standard benefits for organizations, even though their perception of benefits and level of awareness vary greatly. The purpose of this study was to assess the economic benefits of implementing standards in SMEs using ISO Methodology. This research was conducted in SME laundry equipment producer, located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Data on the economic benefits of applying standards are obtained from the interview process with experts (supervisors) in each business function and the owner of the SME. Application of standards at SME provides an economic benefit of IDR 262,012,040. SME also receives other benefits from the application of intangible (non-quantifiable) standards in aspect of 1) Inbound Logistics, 2) HRD, 3) Marketing, and Sales and 4) Management and administration. Benefits in the inbound logistics aspect is the logistics flow is more neatly arranged. Benefits in the HRD aspect include training costs being 80% UMR (Minimum Wage). Benefits in the marketing and sales aspects is that process becomes 2 to 3 times easier when explaining to prospective customers. Benefits are also obtained in the management and administration aspects where customer complaints are reduced drastically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality assurance is a very important factor nowadays in consuming a product, goods, or services. Standardization has a role in the standards development so that they can be accepted in national and international trade. As one of the crucial pillars, the condition of the standardization process in a country must be in an ideal position. So, the research aims to identify the profile of standardization development in Indonesia and analyze the existing conditions compared to the ideal conditions using a comprehensive diagnostic tool that was developed by The World Bank and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The results show that standardization activities, it has not all reached the ideal position. Several improvements are needed, especially in the pillar legal and institutional framework; administration and infrastructure; service delivery and technical competency; external relations and communication. Therefore, it is necessary to develop some activities of this pillar, to realize a comprehensive quality assurance for products or services in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]