Thatcham Accredited Parts

Thatcham have revised the design of the label that identifies approved cosmetic panels under the widely recognised Thatcham Parts Accreditation programme. The new label is part of a change process that is being introduced to increase market penetration and provide greater benefit to the repair industry and insurance providers.

This new label is less expensive and makes the process of attaching the label to the part much less labour intensive for the manufacturer. This move will allow manufacturers to maintain the cost of accredited parts for the benefit of repairers and insurers and help to ensure greater availability within the market.

Since 2002 Thatcham have been testing alternative parts and accrediting only those that meet the exacting standards established for Thatcham Parts Accreditation.

Parts displaying the Approved Component label have been tested in comparison with the OE replacement part to ensure that the fit is not only of the highest quality but can be fitted in the same time and in the same way.

The accreditation procedure starts with manufacturing process audits against industry best practice criteria to ensure repeatable and reliable processes exist to maintain the highest level of quality and confidence. Parts are then tested in a workshop environment and assessed against the OE replacement part to ensure suitable quality in all aspects including fit, finish and ease of fitting.

At the same time Thatcham have opened the doors for a range of distributors to sell accredited parts, previously only available from accredited distributors. This move is designed to improve the availability of these parts whilst maintaining quality, since Thatcham demands that all Approved Components are supplied in suitable protective packaging to ensure that the part is received in excellent condition.

Dean Lander, Accreditation Manager at Thatcham said, “As Thatcham near the milestone of accrediting the 300th aftermarket part, it is our continuing aim to provide the most cost effective and easy to obtain parts solution for the repair industry. Manufacturers are now free to sell the accredited part to any interested buyer so distributors need only look for the label when the part is received. If it doesn’t have the label it isn’t the approved part. The design may have changed but the label you can trust is still synonymous with the highest level of quality.”