Following up on the February announcement that Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) is developing a new bumper certification standard, Jack Gillis, executive director, announced that CAPA is in the dynamic testing phase of the new standard.
The CAPA Bumper Systems Standard will cover steel bumpers (front and rear), steel reinforcements (rebars), bumper brackets and absorbers. CAPA says it’s developing the standard because independent certification and testing is an important mechanism for fostering market competition.
“We are pleased to respond to the cross-industry demand for CAPA certification,” Gillis said. “The bottom line is that insurers, repairers and part distributors cannot simply look at competitive parts and make an informed decision on the true comparability of those parts to car company brand parts.”
To ensure comparability, CAPA says it takes a comprehensive measurement of OEM part performance and uses it as the standard to which aftermarket parts are compared, and the aftermarket part undergoes the same testing as the OEM part. If the test results show the aftermarket part is comparable to the OEM part, then it can bear the CAPA Quality Seal.
“The CAPA Quality Seal is crucial because, as the various ‘tests results’ being released demonstrate, it is impossible to determine if an aftermarket part will perform comparably to a car company brand part unless all critical aspects of the part have been tested and reviewed,” said Gillis.
CAPA says the program also requires continuous post-approval inspection and marketplace monitoring.
After the dynamic bumper testing process has been completed, the proposed standard will be presented to CAPA’s Technical Committee for review and approval. This committee includes representatives of key collision industry segments, including repairers, distributors, manufacturers and insurers.
CAPA noted that the seal on each approved bumper component will enable part tracing with the CAPA Tracker, which enables collision repair shops to register the part and receive notification if CAPA uncovers any potential safety-related problems.
More information:
• BodyShop Business tracks industry concern over aftermarket parts performance
• CAPA Says Its Tracking System Enables Part Tracing in the Event of Safety Problems
• CAPA
