Solutions further explained – CTC – Color Technology Consultancy

Color Batches

Many industries need to color their products like paint with high color accuracy for their customers. Tough specifications need to be met with short lead times. Color technology and digitization are crucial for this process. We will guide you through the process of measurement, color adjustment and meeting tough specifications.

Faster production of color batches is becoming more and more important in industries like paints and plastic. Often the existing workforce is not fully equipped to handle the changing demands. Sometimes these demands are contradictory like price and tight tolerances. Tolerances are often set on different criteria like color differences and metamerism under various light source combinations. It is not always straightforward how to handle these criteria in the available color software packages. We can help you to speed up the to process and educate your people to manage this. Sometimes more drastic measures are necessary like the reorganization of a group or department. We are seasoned managers and can help you in such a process of change.

Color Measuring and Monitoring

Several companies offer color measurement devices. Ranging from 100 to 100.000 euro. Making the right choices for your required solutions is where we can help you. Established high end spectrophotometers are often necessary for tasks like multi angle measurement. Since several years new cheap and accurate color measuring devices entered the market for certain purposes like choosing the right color from a color fan deck. In addition, it is crucial to monitor the behavior of your instruments in time.

Color measuring is in fact a digitization process where the color of an object is expressed in numbers. It strongly depends on the sample type that needs to be measured which device is needed. Solid high gloss and homogenous colors are much easier to measure then complex colors that contain metallic and pearlescent pigments. Depending on the required accuracy solid colors can be measured by any spectrophotometer on the market today. Of course, price can play an important role especially if multiple devices are needed. Digitizing complex effect colors is much more difficult than solid colors and requires multi angle instruments like the BYK-Gardner BYK-mac/i and the XRite MAT12. In addition to choosing the spectrophotometer it is important to consider the accompanying software. The combination of spectro and software should provide you with the required solution for your problem.

The consistency of the measurement/digitization process must be monitored to ensure the required accuracy level. Several suppliers provide software to monitor the accuracy of spectrophotometers. Especially if multiple spectrophotomers are used in a company these monitoring tools are a great help.

For simple applications like selecting the right color from a color fan deck the new low cost devices that entered the market are an option. CTC compiled a report to explain the use and accuracy of these device. They carry luring names like Capsure, Node, Nix, Muse and Nano. These devices are limited to measure color under day light only. Aspects like metamerism cannot be measured. From our contacts with these manufacturers we know that they are very active to come with new options to serve a bigger market.

CTC can advise you in all aspects of the decision process to come to the most optimal choices related to color measuring

Recruitment and selection of Color Experts

It is our passion to provide you with the best matching employees for your business. In the world of color technology there are just a few number of professionals available. These people are hard to find and often satisfied in their current job working on their color passion. CTC can approach these people and interest them for your new challenging job. Colorimetry is a blend of physics, chemistry and IT and each job requires different ratios. In our selection procedure, we will look at background, skills, mobility, salary, motivation and other important drivers for a successful new career.

Currently CTC is developing this new successful service We can contact candidates independently even if the name of your company is not to be disclosed. We work internationally and provide this service for company’s worldwide. We work against challenging fees compared to other agencies.

Color Visual Perception

Color digitization can boost your performance and product output enormously. However, numbers like “L, a and b’ do not always correlate with what you see. We can help you to correlate visual perception with spectrophotometric readings. Train your people to professionalize their visual assessment and mutual agreement.

CTC has a lot of experience with visual assessment. We use a rather new method to obtain the visual assessments of observers. At first observers are trained and the type of judgement discussed. The observers work in pairs and are allowed to influence each other. Because the pairs constantly change too dominant observers can be detected. The results lead to very precise observations and an enjoyable way of working. Next step is to analyze and couple the data to instrumental data of the observed colors. This can be e.g. to define QC tolerance diagrams or even dedicated color difference formulas required for your application.

Color Training and Workshops

Does your staff need to pick up color technology fast? We have a one hour lecture to explain color reflectance curves from the start, gloss differences, color differences, metamerism and effect coatings. We also provide in depth customer attuned and optimized trainings on all aspect of color technology including the use of visual assessments.

Color technology is often a profession acquired during work in practice. Your people do the best they can using this knowledge. We experienced that in many cases employees are not up to date of new technologies and possibilities and additionally they have cavities in their knowledge. CTC can provide your company with training that will remove deficiencies in knowledge and update your processes to a modern level. We provide three training levels: a basic training level, an advanced module and a fully customizable Expert Level.

Basic training module (what is color?)

2-3 time blocks of 4 hours (presentation & hands on sessions)

Introduction
Light sources, object and observer
Color perception & assessment I
Color spaces
Color in numbers
Color differences (formulas and applications)
Summary, questions and evaluations

Advanced training module

2-4 time blocks of 4 hours (presentation & hands on sessions)

Instruments, geometries en calibration
Color Methods in software (interpreting data)
Color prediction models (K&S values and product data)
Matching and Quality Control of Color
Materials and their reflectance characteristics (transparency, gloss, fluorescence , effects, surface structures etc.)
Color perception & assessment II
Summary, questions and evaluations

Expert level training (fully customizable)

Color and data statistics
Pigments and other color contributing materials
Organizing color standards (physical & digital)
Process optimization of color matching
Organization of color data
Developing color collections
Guarding the constancy of color in production
Prevention and acting on color complaints
Communication and harmonization of color measurement devices (internal/external)
Train de trainer (to develop and coach skills of an internal color lecturer)

Color Matching: Speed up the process

Color Matching involves many aspects like pigment choices, optimizations for e.g. color difference, metamerism and of course costs. Current software programs optimize with sometimes incomprehensible methods. We can help you to identify the right optimum for these difficult problems. Especially for effect coatings where digitization is still developing we can help you to make the right choices.

Color matching can be split in solid and effect color matching. In general, solid color matching is easier but has it challenges as well like different gloss levels and transparency levels. Effect colors differ depending on the light distribution and observation angle. For solids en effects different spectrophotometers are required. In practice color matches, especially for effect colors cannot be developed first time right and need several correction steps. The same goes for solid color matches that have very tight color tolerances. The cause for these high number of correction steps are often not obvious and in practice they are simply accepted.

CTC can help your company to identify long lead times in color matching and how to shorten them as much as possible.

Color Product development

Color is often a key property of newly developed products and it often is hard to reach the fierce specifications of your customers. CTC will help you to reach your due dates in product development. We are seasoned project managers and very experienced in managing color specialists and IT people.

The development of color products like software, hardware and algorithms is very similar with the development of other commercial products. Project management systems like Prince 2, Stage gating and Agile /scrum are working fine. They can be combined with conventional stage gate techniques.

However, color technology is different because it is completely intertwined with IT. As seasoned color research managers CTC, can help you on your journey along the roadmap of color product development.