Metrication and Planning to Meet Its Demands in Aerospace Engineering and Manufacturing

Aerospace will, in all probability, be among the very first industries to be affected when the United States government, after 180 years of debate, finally decides to “go metric.” In view of this well-founded premise, and the prevalent belief that the Congress will afford positive support to a program to adopt the SI, this paper provides, along with a brief introduction to the history of metrication and SI units, an outline of how the demands of metrication must be met if the conversion to SI units is to be successful. It notes why the introduction of SI units will necessitate the development of individual company plans for metrication and what the common features will be. The basic common features discussed are: a genuine understanding of metrication, need for an evaluation which will establish the degree to which an organization will be affected, requirement for a schedule for introduction of the metrication program, educational provisions, coordinated implementation, and publicity.