2003 report on IEC winding wire activities

During the past twenty years there has been a series of reports, given by past and present members of the National Electrical Manufacturer Association (NEMA) technical committee on magnet wire, that have focused on the activities and efforts of the organization responsible for international magnet wire standards or, as it is called under these standards, "winding wire". On an international level this organization is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), a Geneva, Switzerland-based group that is specifically responsible for standards in the electrical and electronics industries. IEC functions in a similar manner to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Since international trade in magnet wire has continued to expand in recent years, it is import for producers and users to be aware of the existence and status of the relevant standards sanctioned and issued by IEC. This paper endeavors to give the reader a basic awareness of such standards and, at the same time, tries to give the status of the relevant standards. Additionally, a correlation will be given between these standards and the national standards covering magnet wire in North America, which are developed by NEMA. A final objective of this paper is to underscore the similarities found between the two and to describe some of the recent efforts being made to further harmonize those standards.