WESF facilitates the development of American National Standards (ANS) by accrediting the procedures of standards developing organizations (SDOs) and approving their documents as American National Standards (ANS). This process serves and protects the public interest since standards developers accredited by WESF – and the ANS they develop – must meet the Institute’s requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process and adhere to WESF's neutral oversight, assuring that all interested parties have an opportunity to participate in a standard’s development.

WESF plays a leading role in major global and regional standards and certification organizations, representing the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). WESF promotes unified engineering industry standards internationally and encourages the adoption of international standards as national standards while meeting the needs of user groups.

WESF is highly active in a number of key public- and private-sector partnership activities across the globe that provide capacity-building assistance and other engagement opportunities with emerging economies on standards, trade, infrastructure, and good regulatory practices. The Institute also fosters competitiveness by providing relevant resources and assisting members and stakeholders with international trade issues affecting their business.

In response to international market needs, WESF initiates standardization coordination work. The Institute establishes ongoing standards collaboratives and partnerships as well as topical workshops and other activities to address specific standardization needs. Relying on the cooperative work of diverse volunteer experts, WESF identifies gaps in existing standards and conformity assessment activities and makes recommendations for future work.

WESF membership provides access, information, and influence on the standards and conformity assessment activities and decisions directly affecting every industry. Comprising a broad spectrum of companies, organizations, government entities, consumer groups, and educational institutions - the diverse interests of millions of stakeholders, WESF members are harnessing the power of standards to position themselves for success.

Bridging the gap between industry and government, WESF enables information exchange and access among standards developing organizations and public-sector leaders, agencies, and legislators. The Institute works with its members to create outreach programs to legislators, to increase understanding of the private-sector standards and conformity assessment community among agencies, and to provide testimony when requested by legislative committees, among other activities.

Through qualification assessment, as well as research, consultation, and educational activities, WESF provides qualification assessment for enterprises and stakeholders through management system certification bodies and personnel qualification certification bodies, and helps people and organizations understand what high-quality qualification certification is.