The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) and W. Capra Laboratories said they’ve established the PCATS interoperability Laboratory and Expanded Certification Program.
PCATS signed a service agreement with Capra to provide technical assistance in developing conformance testing tools, as well as its interoperability laboratory and services for testing PCATS standards.
Since 2003, PCATS technical committees have developed standards in a number of different areas and have been conducting XML conformance testing for POS and back-office providers.
Over the past several years a significant demand has arisen to expand the program to include conformance testing and interoperability testing for the POS/back-office areas, and to formalize a certification program for other PCATS standards that would verify and validate products’ adherence to the standards, as well as illuminate the PCATS Certification value.
Based on this new arrangement, the PCATS Certification Program will be able to make improvements in the quality of products and services delivered to the convenience and petroleum marketing industry.
“We are extremely excited about embarking on this new relationship with W. Capra Laboratories,” said John Hervey, PCATS executive director. “We believe that this arrangement will greatly benefit the industry and add significantly to the value that PCATS is bringing to the retailer and supplier communities.”
“W. Capra Laboratories is excited to have been selected by PCATS to provide the petroleum c-store industry an independent lab to validate products’ adherence to the standards developed by PCATS and test interoperability,” said Patrick Raycroft, managing partner of W. Capra Laboratories. “We look forward to operating a best in class facility that will meet the certification and commercial needs of PCATS and its members for many years to come.”
During the next few months, PCATS and Capra will be releasing additional details regarding the expanded certification program and a prioritized schedule for the certification of additional standards.
