Standards harmonization; what next? [for electric machines]

Now that a number of IEEE Standards have been compared to their IEC counterparts, what are the next steps to be taken in the effort to “harmonize” such standards? The Electric Machinery Committee (EMC) has tasked a number of individuals to undertake the detailed process of comparing the IEEE and IEC standards, sometimes item by item, where necessary. It is not clear what will happen next. There have not been any instructions to the reviewers as to what the outcome of this harmonization will be. Some obvious questions are: Will the IEEE change its standards to conform to IEC standards?; Will the IEC be asked to add IEEE items to its standards?; Will a common standard be synthesized from the two?; and Does it make sense to continue to have two separate standards that are close, but not identical to each other? These and other questions are discussed by the author in this paper. Also presented are excerpts from two standards comparisons concerning DC machines and carbon brushes