Intertek Officially Becomes CAPA’s Certifying Body
Washington, DC – The Certified Automotive Parts Association, an independent, non-profit, standard setting and certification organization for aftermarket parts, and Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, have entered into a license agreement, granting Intertek exclusive rights to operate the CAPA certification program around the world.
“Given CAPA and Intertek’s over quarter century relationship, this change will set the stage for significant U.S. and worldwide growth opportunities for CAPA,” said Jack Gillis, CAPA’s outgoing Executive Director. Under the agreement, Intertek will officially become the exclusive certifying body for CAPA and will administer the program, which includes continuing to manage program compliance, administering certification marks and labels, conducting testing and inspection services, performing marketing activities, and day to day program oversight. CAPA will continue as an ANSI approved, independent, non-profit standard setting organization, developing and maintaining CAPA standards under the direction of CAPA’s industry diverse Technical Committee.
“At CAPA, our priority has always been to ensure that the market has access to high quality, fairly priced, alternative parts that provide the same functionality as a car company brand part,” said Clark Plucinski, CAPA’s Board Chair. “Our more than 26-year partnership with Intertek has set the stage for the logical transition of CAPA’s program management to this highly respected, international testing agency. Intertek’s extensive experience with the CAPA, CAPA manufacturers, and automotive testing and certification will enable them to significantly grow the CAPA program. Due to the close partnership between CAPA and Intertek, manufacturers and the marketplace will note few outward changes to the program,” added Plucinski.
“With the support of hundreds of diverse industry leaders, and Intertek, we’ve been able to take CAPA from a fledgling part certification program to an internationally respected leader in aftermarket part quality and I’m very proud of being part of that process,” said Gillis. “Now that we’ve become a financially independent standard setting authority, I hope to continue my association with CAPA as a consumer representative on the Board,” continued Gillis. “Having completed one of the most successful years in CAPA’s 31 year history, this is a perfect time to set the stage for expanded growth and market access to high quality, CAPA Certified, aftermarket parts, and Intertek is perfectly positioned to do that,” said Plucinski.
Aftermarket auto parts are currently available with extremely variable levels of quality and CAPA standards have been used worldwide to identify high quality aftermarket auto parts based on their design, materials, construction and comparability to car company brand parts. Today, over 92 million parts have achieved CAPA Certification. For more than 26 years, Intertek has served as the testing and validation partner to CAPA, accumulating years of expertise in performance, quality and reliability standards for the AM parts industry. In addition, due to the millions of dollars CAPA has invested in manufacturer education and training through Intertek, they have become a trusted partner of the now 68 CAPA approved manufacturers. With this change, Jack Gillis and Debbie Klouser, CAPA’s Director of Operations, will no longer be managing CAPA’s day to day activities. Intertek’s Kerry Tapio, Operations Manager and her talented team of CAPA staffers will take over daily operations. Kerry can be reached at Kerry.Tapio@Intertek.com or 616-656-7488.
“Intertek is committed to providing comprehensive solutions for all segments of the automotive industry, including aftermarket parts manufacturers,” said Tim Hubbard, Senior Vice President at Intertek. “We look forward to leveraging our experience and global reach to build on CAPA’s legacy, while taking the program to new heights with increased speed to market and strong industry relationships.”
In addition to its extensive experience with CAPA, Intertek provides expertise on performance, quality and reliability standards for the entire automotive industry with efficient, cost-effective insights and testing capabilities. The company is accredited by to conduct hundreds of electrical, chemical, and mechanical tests for a wide variety of automotive components, products and systems for both original equipment and aftermarket manufacturers, suppliers and other segments of the industry.
About CAPA: The Certified Automotive Parts Association, founded in 1987, is the nation’s only independent, non-profit, certification organization for automotive crash parts whose sole purpose is to ensure that both consumers and the industry have the means to identify high quality parts via the CAPA Quality Seal. CAPA is an ANSI accredited standards developer for competitive crash repair parts. For more information see CAPAcertified.org.
