Industrial Standards: Measure for Metric Measure

In the skeptical view of many Americans, plans to convert the U.S. to the metric system of measurement is an idea whose time may never come. Nonetheless, in the ten years since Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, the country has undergone a quiet metrical transformation. Although the public still talks about ounces rather than grams, and quarts instead of liters, U.S. business is inexorably going metric. From computer parts to cosmetic creams, American goods are increasingly designed and packaged in metric units. So smoothly has this transition been accomplished that consumers now routinely buy wine in 1.5-liter bottles and drive cars that clock speeds in both miles and kilometers per hour.

The biggest push for metrication has come from American exporters. Since the U.S. is the only major nation that has not embraced the metric system, companies must adapt to the rest of the world's standards if they wish to sell abroad. About two-thirds of the 1,000 largest U.S. manufacturers now use metrics to some extent, and all U.S. cars are currently designed to metric specifications.