| Experts in two fields throughout the World respect Andrew Smith. Domestic fire safety is one area; the second is quality standardization. Twenty-five years working in industry was the foundation of these achievements. Now he hopes to use his experience more widely. To do this he formed "The Montebello Consultancy" in 1988. |  |
| B.Sc. Physics
(Nottingham University, 1963, subsidiary subjects Mathematics, Electronics and Geology) 3 "S" Level G.C.E. Passes (Pure, Applied Mathematics and Physics with the same subjects at "A" level ); 8 "O" Level G.C.E. Passes; Languages: English, French and Spanish. |
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| Now aged 59, he joined the Dunlopillo Division of Dunlop Ltd. on leaving university. In that same year he joined his first British Standards Institute technical committee. During this period he developed physical tests and introduced statistical procedures to the Division. In the mid-Sixties his responsibilities enlarged to include process development, working on a system of low pressure foaming. The costs were not favourable at that time but it is now a major production process. |  |
At the beginning of the Seventies the public began to be aware of the
Fire issue. Individual companies had done small scale tests for many years.
A whole industry chose Andrew Smith to do some of the first experiments
on the ignition and burning of real pieces of furniture. (See the pictureMan at Work taken in 1974). He used this knowledge to design the apparatus on which BS 5852, EN 1021 and the U. K. Government furniture safety regulations were based.
Through the middle and late Seventies the British Standards Institution
then the International Standards Organization and the Comité Europeenne
de Normalisation (CEN) started drafting methods of test and specifications
based on the ideas formed by these experiments. In all of these discussions
Andrew Smith was one of the leaders, seeking to reduce the toll of lives
lost by fire.
For ten years Andrew Smith was convener of the ISO working group dealing
with foam test methods and quality specifications. This group published
thirteen International standards under his guidance.
| In the Eighties the use of statistical methods of quality
control increased. Within his company Andrew Smith became the statistical
advisor on the efforts to conform to the Ford Q101 system of control, and
to achieve certification under BS 5750. These external standards are now
the ISO 9000 series and its automotive equivalents.
In the early part of the Eighties the effort on fire died away, but new techniques became available. He was seconded for a period to the Fire Research Station to work on the computer modelling of fire. |
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Andrew Smith also developed a quantitative test for smouldering for
Dunlopillo. In 1986 his efforts over the years were recognized by a presentation
by the British Rubber Manufacturers Association. This was the "J. Mac A.
King" award for "outstanding services to the foam industry". He has been
chair of two technical committees of the BSI and still serves on many others.
At ISO he was at one time a member of four expert groups. He was a member
of the CEN working group on furniture flammability. As the first chairperson
he established the CEN Technical Sub-committee dealing with cellular polymers.
Since 1988 he has been managing his own business, The Montebello Consultancy.
He deliberately organized this as a one man operation so that all clients
have full access to his abilities.
| In the Nineties he has worked for a wide variety of clients, within the UK and internationally. His projects cover a very wide range. One example was to organize academic and industrial cooperation to improve the quality of products in Costa Rica. Another was to set up a database of fire test results in a project funded by the European Commission. In 1992 the BSI awarded a Distinguished Service Certificate to him. At present he is Chairman of one of the four Consumer Coordinating Committees of the BSI which is concerned with mechanical engineering, construction and health care. Thus his fire and general standards expertise is used for the benefit of product users. He has drafted standards under the DTI aided consultancy scheme, including a major portion of BS 0, "A Standard for Standards". |  |
Past and present clients of The Montebello Consultancy
have included
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