During its annual general membership meeting held June 6 in Longboat Key, Florida, the Friction Material Standards Institute (FMSI) once again honored Centric Parts as the single largest contributor to the FMSI system for 2016. This is the 14th year in a row that Centric Parts has been honored for “New Assignments & Applications” by FMSI, continuing an unbroken streak dating back to the award’s inception in 2003.

FMSI President Patrick Healey presented this year’s award to Centric Parts Product Manager Mario Figueroa.

“Our whole team deserves the credit for this award,” said Figueroa. “People take it for granted that there are aftermarket parts available for their car when they go in for brake service. What many don’t realize is how many man-hours go into researching, engineering and sourcing those parts. I’m proud to be part of a team that does that better than anyone else.”

Figueroa leads a group of researchers, engineers and technicians at Centric that is responsible for gathering and examining new model year vehicle components to identify carryover parts and to catalog new ones to be entered into the FMSI registry. This year alone, the Centric Parts team was responsible for adding more than 320 new applications and assignments to the FMSI database.

“It is such an honor to be recognized again by FMSI,” said Brian Griffin III, Centric vice president of product management. “This is a testament to our entire research team who work diligently to support our first-to-market focus.”

The Friction Materials Standards Institute, the organization behind the FMSI Award, was founded in 1948 to maintain a standardized part numbering system used by the automotive aftermarket friction industry, and to disseminate to its members scientific, engineering, technological, statistical and other relevant information. The FMSI Award program was started in 2003 to recognize companies that excel in actively contributing information and research to support the system.