Materials, Processes, and Parts Council

MPPC Operating Procedures

1. Authority

The Materials, Processes and Parts Council operates under the authority of the SAE Technical Standards Board. MPPC has the authority to organize its membership and conduct its business as it deems appropriate, consistent with the rules and regulations of the Technical Standards Board.

2. Purpose

The purpose of MPPC is to provide for, promote, direct, and supervise the development of consensus SAE Technical Reports, and to conduct investigations for activities related to engineered materials, processes, and parts used in the surface mobility industry.

3. Scope

MPPC establishes policies; provides final approval of Technical Reports developed by MPPC committees; reports to the Technical Standards Board; approves committee chairpersons and membership; and takes other actions toward the effective development of SAE standards for materials, processes, and parts.

4. Organization

The basic organization of MPPC and its technical committees shall be as shown in the MPPC organization chart.

5. Membership

5.1 General. Individuals affiliated with MPPC serve in the capacity of officers, members, consultants, liaison representatives, and honorary members. They are selected on the basis of their individual knowledge, experience, and professional capabilities plus their recognized effectiveness in contributing to cooperative engineering standards development.

5.2 Voting Members. Individuals are recognized for their technical qualifications in the area of work involved. They are privileged to vote on all questions under consideration. They serve on an individual basis rather than as a representative of an agency, company, or organization. An individual can become a voting member of MPPC by serving in one of the following capacities:

• Chairperson of MPPC
• Vice-Chairperson of MPPC
• Chairperson of a Technical Committee
• Appointed member-at-large

5.3 Terms of Office. Members of the Council shall be appointed for three-year terms. A member cannot serve more than two consecutive terms unless approved by majority vote of the MPPC members. If a member is unable to complete a term on the Council, the MPPC chairperson may appoint a replacement to complete the unexpired term.

5.4 Nominations. Before the end of each calendar year, the MPPC chairperson will appoint a nominating committee consisting of at least two MPPC voting members. This committee will prepare a list of candidates for Council membership to replace outgoing members. These nominees will be submitted to the Technical Standards Board for approval.

5.5 Membership Review. Members are expected to participate in the work of the Council. This includes attendance at meetings and voting on letter ballots of draft technical reports. Chairpersons of MPPC technical committees are responsible for periodically reviewing committee rosters and taking such action as may be required to ensure an active and participative membership. Committee membership records are to be kept up-to-date and reported regularly to the SAE staff representative. Members not responding to three consecutive letter ballots or being absent without notice from two consecutive meetings should be contacted by the chairperson to determine if they should retain their membership.

6. MPPC Chairperson

6.1 Qualifications. The chairperson shall have experience in committee work and understand SAE Technical Standards Board rules, regulations, and procedures.

6.2 Duties. Duties of the chairperson shall include:

• Preside over MPPC meetings.
• Establish new Technical Committees and appoint their interim chairpersons.
• Establish standing committees, working groups, planning groups, and ad hoc committees as needed, including appointment of their chairpersons and/or individual member work assignments.
• Assign projects so as to expedite MPPC's work.
• Act for MPPC between meetings subject to member confirmation at the next meeting.
• With assistance of the SAE staff representative, supervise voting on all MPPC technical reports.
• Represent MPPC as a member of Technical Standards Board.
• Report to Technical Standards Board on the work of the Council.
• Perform other duties as required by Technical Standards Board.

6.3 Term of Office. The chairperson serves a three-year term of office. An individual may be reappointed for a second three-year term. The immediate past chairman is automatically nominated for Council membership for a normal three-year term to begin at the end of his term as chairperson.

7. MPPC Vice-Chairperson

7.1 Qualifications. The vice-chairperson shall have experience in committee work and understand SAE Technical Standards Board rules, regulations, and procedures.

7.2 Duties. The vice-chairperson presides over MPPC meetings in the absence of the chairperson, chairs the nominating committee for new Council members, and assumes other duties as directed by the chairperson.

7.2.1 Term of Office. The vice-chairperson serves a three-year term of office. An individual may be reappointed for a second three-year term.

8. MPPC Technical Committees

8.1 Function. Technical committees shall be established by Council action to develop, revise, and cancel SAE Technical Reports within their committee scope.

8.2 Membership. Each committee is composed of a chairperson and members who are technically qualified to contribute to the work of the committee.

8.3 Committee Officers. Committee officers are elected by the voting members of their committees to serve three-year terms of office. The chairperson may be re-elected to a second three-year term; service beyond six consecutive years is subject to approval by majority vote of MPPC. It is recommended that a vice-chairperson be elected to assist the committee chairperson.

8.4 New Committees. New committees may be formed as necessary to carry out specific technical segments of the MPPC scope. The chairperson of a new committee shall be appointed to a three-year term by the MPPC chairman. The appointed chairperson selects and appoints qualified individuals to serve as initial members of the new committee.

8.5 Working Groups. Working groups may be formed by MPPC or its technical committees as necessary to accomplish specific technical projects.

8.5.1 Project Groups. Project groups deal with specific projects of an on-going nature: for example, development or revision of a specific standard or group of related standards.

8.5.2 Ad Hoc Groups. Ad hoc groups deal with specific projects of a short duration: for example, resolution of a particular technical problem related to a standard.

9. Meetings

9.1 Frequency. MPPC shall hold at least one meeting each calendar year. Two or more meetings are recommended. The time and place of meetings shall be determined by the chairperson with a 30-day advance notification provided to members.

9.2 Agendas. The MPPC agenda should include the following elements as appropriate:

• Oral and written report by the Council Chairperson, normally including items of Council interest from the Technical Standards Board.
• Oral and written reports by technical committee chairpersons.
• Discussion of topics of concern to MPPC and its committees, including necessary action items.

9.3 Meeting Minutes. Minutes will be prepared for all MPPC council and technical committee meetings and distributed as required by SAE Staff Representatives.

9.4 Quorum. At least one-half of the voting members shall be present to constitute a quorum. If a quorum is not present, a properly scheduled meeting may still be held, but any decisions taken at such a meeting shall be subject to subsequent approval in conformance to clause 9.5.

9.5 Actions. MPPC actions shall be by majority vote of those members in attendance at a scheduled meeting for which a quorum is present or by a majority vote of MPPC members responding to a letter ballot, so long as at least one-half of the members return a ballot marked approve or disapprove. The provisions of this clause do not apply to approval of SAE Technical Reports, for which clause 10 applies.

10. Technical Reports

10.1 Preparation of Technical Reports. MPPC technical committees shall prepare SAE Technical Reports on topics covered by their scopes and periodically review existing SAE Technical reports.

10.2 Balloting of Technical Reports. Following receipt of a draft technical report from a document sponsor or committee chairman, SAE staff shall distribute draft report to the designated committee. The draft report shall include a rationale statement and a summary of responses from previous ballots. SAE staff shall tally results of letter ballots and report results to the document sponsor and committee chairperson. Results of MPPC ballots shall also be reported to the Council chairperson.

10.2.1 Approval Criteria. The following criteria shall be met for approval of a draft technical report at each stage of the process (subcommittee, technical committee, MPPC):

• 50% response from voting members (response means a ballot marked approve or disapprove) and
• 67% approval from voting members who vote approve or disapprove.

10.2.2 Resolution of Ballot Comments. The document sponsor should attempt to obtain unanimous approval by resolving all comments. Unresolved disapproval comments shall be documented and forwarded to the next voting level.

11. Revision of Operating Procedures. The provisions of these Operating Procedures do not supersede any existing procedural document established by the Technical Standards Board. These operating procedures may be amended, revised, or rescinded in part or in their entirety by a minimum 75% approval of the voting members of MPPC who respond to a letter ballot with a vote of either approve or disapprove, provided at least 50% of the voting members respond to the ballot.

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