Toronto, Ontario — Polyvance, a manufacturer of automotive plastic repair and refinishing products based in Rainsville, Ala., was inducted as a regular member of the Japan Autobody Work Association (JARWA) on Jan. 1, 2020.
Polyvance began to export products to Japan in 2019 through T-CraftCo., its exclusive distributor there. Nitrogen plastic welding has yet to be adopted in Japan, so it has been received with interest. As a result of T-Craft’s success in demonstrating the Polyvance nitrogen plastic welder in Japan, the technology has been officially recognized by JARWA.
“JARWA will support Polyvance…through its distributors to spread the high-quality plastic welding technology with excellent strength and aesthetics in Japan,” said JARWA in a press release.
One of JARWA’s missions is to promulgate quality sheet metal welding standards and training in Japan as there is no equivalent to I-CAR there. JARWA is now expanding its purview into plastic repair in response to its members’ interest.
Polyvance’s involvement with JARWA and the Japanese market has also piqued the interest of Jiken Center, an organization supported by the Japanese insurance industry with an interest in researching repair methods for safety and cost reduction.
Jiken Center is also supportive of T-Craft’s and Polyvance’s efforts since plastic repair is very rarely done in Japan and the organization sees an opportunity to reduce industry severity.
