| By :
Grubb Young
Nearly every type of manufacturer is part of a larger group. These groups are often unions or associations. While unions work to protect the manufacturing workers, associations help organize and lobby for the many different companies involved in the same business. For mattresses, that umbrella association is the International Sleep Products Association, or ISPA. The world of mattress manufacturing and marketing has historically been fractured and disorganized. Manufacturers and retailers have always been in competition for market share, but in the early and mid 20th century, these problems among the group began to cause problems with the products. For a long period, bed makers were less concerned with making quality products for consumers than with getting rid of the competition. The ISPA was created by 39 mattress manufacturers in 1915. The main goal of the association was to bring unity and uniformity to the bed making industry. This is still the ISPA's main goal, though the group also works as a lobbyist on behalf of mattress manufacturers. This has had some positive results. When the government considered mandating fire safety specifications, the ISPA was able to educate both consumer safety officials and mattress manufacturers on available technologies in fire retardation. Today, the ISPA still has the dissemination of relevant, vital, pertinent information as one of its main objectives. From 39 members to 700 members, the ISPA has grown membership to include manufacturers, service suppliers, and other companies involved in the making and selling of bedding components. ISPA works as a communal governing leader for the industry. In doing so, it also often works as the "face" of the industry, presenting and representing the bedding industry to law makers, the media, and the public in the best possible manner. ISPA has a strategic plan for acting as a representative for and leading the bedding industry. Implemented in 2002, the ISPA's main strategic objectives focus on broadening the market for new mattress sales, increasing an internationally and industrially broad membership base, and strengthening effective representation of the bedding industry to governments and government agencies. While the ISPA's main focus is on representation in government settings, the association also performs vital research and studies of the mattress industry and consumer market. This information is useful not only to companies involved in bedding sales, but also to economists who study the various areas of the consumer economy. In doing so, the ISPA also collects and acts as a library of outside sources of information for and about the mattress and bedding industry. Most commercial industries have leader associations similar to the ISPA. While the association exists on behalf of bedding manufacturers, consumers can also contact ISPA with questions and to gain more information and insight into the sleep industry.
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