2060 – 04 – Institutions to Know

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Each type of steel has a given numerical name. Two organizations, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) combined to make AISI-SAE. They create designations for a wide variety of steel. Their designations take the form of a three or four-number code that signifies the percentage of steel content.

AISI-SAE is not the only classification system. The Unified Numbering Systems (UNS) was formed by a collaboration of a variety of American organizations. The UNS system uses a five-number code instead of the three or four numbers that the AISI-SAE uses.

Other countries employ unique systems. Companies that do international business have to be aware of differences between international classification systems.