Who is the ASME BPE and What Do They Do?
If you call Holland Applied Technologies to speak with a customer service representative and ask for a 316 stainless steel fitting, you’ll likely be asked “Do you require BPE compliant fittings?” Previous posts to our blog have spent some time talking about BPE fittings and other parts of the ASME BPE Standards, but it occurred to us that a lot of people don’t know what the ASME BPE is. This post will go into some more detail.
ASME BPE is an abbreviation for American Society of Mechanical Engineers – BioProcessing Equipment Standards.
The ASME BPE Standards Committee is a collection of the both manufacturers and end users that set out to develop a guideline to cover the design, materials, construction, inspection, and testing of BioProcessing equipment.
The BPE standards committee is broken down into a series of subcommittees that allow industry experts to collaborate and utilize their expertise to develop a comprehensive approach to all aspects of bioprocessing equipment the subcommittees are:
- General Requirements
- Systems Design
- Dimensions and tolerances for Process Components
- Material joining
- Process Contact Surface Finishes
- Sealing Components
- Polymeric and Other Nonmetallic Materials
- Metallic Materials
- Certification
- Process instrumentation
As new types of technology come to market, additional subcommittees are developed to address them. Updated standards are published bi-annually. The most recent revision to the standard, published in 2014, covers new topics ranging from hygienic supports to weld discoloration acceptance criteria and dynamic seal performance.
The Standard developed by the ASME for bioprocessing equipment is the leading standard used to design and build equipment for the bioprocessing market. The Standard incorporates current best practices that help equipment manufacturers and end users alike, maximize product purity and safety. By developing a standard, the ASME has allowed companies to improve communication and become more efficient, which results in lower development and manufacturing costs.
To conclude, the question is not so much as to who is the BPE, but what is it. The ASME BPE is a standard developed by ASME members specifically for the bioprocessing market. Holland Applied Technology personnel actively participate in the BPE meetings. One of our engineers at Holland is a member of the Systems Design and Certification sub-committees. If you should ever have questions regarding ASME BPE compliant equipment please contact us at 800-800-8464 or our website www.hollandapt.com