An announcement was made by The Institute of Caster and Wheel Manufacturers or ICWM and the Material Handling Industry of America or MHIA with regards to the approval and release of the new ANSI ICWM: The ICWM Performance Standard for Caster and Wheel of 2012. This is the established revision of the ICWM Standard of 2004.
With the authorization of the ANSI, this new Standard gives the specifiers, manufacturers as well as the users a basic groundwork for their evaluation of durability, technical requirements for casters and wheels (this includes industrial casters, furniture casters as well as the institutional and hospital bed caster), structural adequacy and more importantly its over-all safety. This Standard also defines the specific tests, industry terms, the condition of tests, different equipment methods that can be utilized, and the least acceptance level that will be used in conducting the evaluations of the products.
According to The Institute of Caster and Wheel Manufacturers, this Standard can also be utilized by the OEM engineers and by plant operation personnel to be able to successfully identify the ideals of the design for casters and wheels to achieve its utmost performance.