A webinar held last week by the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) shared technical details about its newly up-and-running CAPIS standards.

The standards can supplement or be used as an alternative to the current XML-based Business Message Suite (BMS) framework for developers to create collision industry software.

CIECA encourages the collision repair industry to use CAPIS and/or Business Message Suite (BMS) standards instead of EMS for the sake of data privacy, especially when it comes to personally identifiable information (PII). PII includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and license plate numbers of customers and/or vehicle owners who come into repair centers. PII also debatably includes the VIN since it can be linked back to names, addresses, and phone numbers, Tagliapetra previously said.

“We want to continue to develop the most current and relevant products available so that the shop industry and the collision industry as a whole can have the best tools and security,” said Paul Barry, CIECA’s executive director, in an interview with Repairer Driven News. “Data privacy has been a long-standing concern in the industry… We’ve been trying for years to get off of the EMS.”

Concerns raised about EMS involve large sets of data being sent from repair centers, a lot of which is unnecessary to send, putting data privacy at risk.

In a previous CIECA webinar, Datatouch Managing Director Pete Tagliapetra and Barry explained that EMS was intended and created only for internal shop use so external information security was not considered in the design.

EMS creates large files of unencrypted data pulled from estimates.

“One of the problems with the EMS is it just sits on the shop’s machine,” Barry said. “It’s a local file that gets generated by the estimating system… it’s unencrypted, it’s not secured in any way… With BMS, it’s the option to get just the data you need.

“It should be secured with authentication, user ID, and password type authentication so that when that data is being transmitted, it’s not just unencrypted data floating around in space.”

Barry added CIECA hopes smaller companies will take notice of the new CAPIS standards and adopt them. Most larger companies have already done so, or adopted BMS, he said. Those who are interested in CAPIS can check out the video below for insights from CIECA member companies Mitchell International, Integral, and Carparts.com on using them as well as demos within commonly used tools.

For example, Carparts.com is using CAPIS for parts ordering through its marketplace.

“The business case is we created parts invoices payments and fulfillment updates and we were able to do that with test instances being provided and also using tools Stoplight Studio and Postman,” said Jeff Schroder, with Carparts.com.

 “If you look at the volume of transactions that occur across the industry, they’re almost all in the BMS today. These are standing integrations between CCC, Mitchell, Audatex, insurance companies, and MSOs.”

Smaller companies might send an assignment by email then the repair center uploads the estimate, meaning those companies are likely working EMS, he added.

“There’s a lot of small companies that do that and they may have a data pump doing it,” Barry said. “Data pumps are resident on the body shops’ machine and just pumps out every estimate that gets written. That’s a concern for the industry so we’d like to try to discourage that model and move to something better. Something better today is BMS and is starting to be CAPIS.”

Data pumps used by parts suppliers and claims processing agents, as just a couple of examples, will continue to send data indefinitely to those businesses whether repair facilities are still working with them or not until they’re uninstalled, likely including copying every estimate.

CAPIS is a more modern language. “The point is [to] pick the tool that’s right for the job,” Barry said. “If we build a better mouse trap and somebody goes, ‘Hey, you know what if we used CAPIS instead that would be a better model.’ Then, they’ve got more incentive to do it. By providing better tools that are more nimble, faster, and lighter to work with we’re hoping to encourage companies to move [in] that direction.

Two years ago, CIECA announced it would embark on the next generation of collision industry standards—JSON-based Open API Standards. Since then, CIECA has established committees to determine what electronic communication standards need to be created. Each quarter, we’ll feature one of these committees in the CIECA Standard newsletter. 

CIECA’s Referral Committee was formed in October 2022 after Kim DeVallance Caron, Global Product Portfolio Director for Enterprise Holdings, suggested the idea during CIECA’s semi-annual meeting in 2022. 

“The collision industry’s technology and customer expectations have changed significantly since the BMS standards were created in 2006,” said DeVallance Caron. “With vehicle technology, smart phones, etc. having the ability to detect crashes and support the fulfillment of services at the time of incident, it was clear CIECA as an organization needed to take these use cases into consideration.”

“The insurance-based assignment model used in the BMS simply doesn’t capture the scope and variability that is emerging as vehicle and smart phone-based sensors offer alternative means of communicating accident information,” said Paul Barry, CIECA’s executive director.

The committee’s objective is to improve customer service and efficiencies in the inspection and repair process by developing and maintaining messaging standards aimed at automating vehicle referral activities. 

DeVallance Caron explained that many services at the time of incident have not or will not be vetted/authorized by the insurance carrier; meanwhile, the customer needs to get the process started and in motion.

The Referral Committee will take these into consideration and come up with the referral services and messages that customers will need depending on the severity of the accident. 

DeVallance Caron said the ultimate goal is to create referral standards that will get the appropriate information to the parties involved in the claim (shop, insurance carrier, etc.) and get the customer the services they need at time of incident (tow, rental, glass, etc.).

The committee is open to members and non-members and currently consists of all collision industry segments that use the assignment message.

Paulette Reed, CIECA’s technical project manager, explained that the referral message is similar to an assignment message; however, an assignment is typically triggered by the bill payer (insurance company) and the referral comes from business partners that are not responsible for payment.

“In the past, the company that sent the assignment to the business partner was typically the same as the one paying for the tow, rental, etc.,” said Reed. “With new technologies being used today, there are different ways the assignment of services can be initiated after a collision.”

For example, through telematics, an OEM can make a referral to a body shop after first notice of loss (FNOL).

CIECA's next webinar is scheduled for Thursday, March 30 at 11 am PT/1 pm CT/ 2 pm ET: “How to Adapt to the Speed of Change in the Collision Industry… Without Getting Crushed.” The one-hour webinar will feature Ryan Taylor, founder of the CRM software BodyShop Booster and president of The AMP Bureau.

During the live broadcast, Taylor will share three secrets focused on how Fortune 500 companies embrace change: Upstream Thinking, How to adapt and ride the technology wave, and From Fear to Freedom: How the military uses change as rocket fuel to boost advancement.

Upstream Thinking

Taylor said upstream thinking is a new way to solve some of the biggest challenges. “From staffing to supply chain issues, this problem-solving methodology is a closely-guarded secret that many of the most successful companies use,” he said.

How to adapt and ride the technology wave

Are you struggling to keep up with the fast-paced evolution of technology? Don't get left behind! Taylor will share a proven framework that can be used by the industry to adapt to the latest technological advancements and thrive in today's digital landscape.

From Fear to Freedom: How the military uses change as rocket fuel to boost advancement

The military operates in a constantly changing and unpredictable environment. As a result, it has developed a culture that embraces change and adaptation.

“By using change as a catalyst for growth and advancement, the military has been able to stay ahead of the curve and maintain its competitive edge,” said Taylor. “This secret approach can be applied to businesses in the collision industry by fostering a culture of innovation and adaptation and embracing change to drive growth and success.”

Taylor said he started his first body shop when he was 17, fueled by way too much coffee. Through unconventional and creative means, he grew it to be an MSO with locations across Canada, with a successful exit in 2014. Presently, Taylor is the founder of the CRM software BodyShop Booster and the president of The AMP Bureau. He is an advisor and coach to thousands of shops, OEMs and Fortune 500 companies around the globe.

All industry segments, including CIECA members and non-members, are invited to attend the webinar. Following the presentation, there will be a Q&A session.

Attendees can earn Automotive Management Institute (AMi) credit toward an industry-recognized professional designation and specialty degree by attending this webinar.

Thank you to the following publications for sharing this announcement: 

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