Colour special: Getting the most from colour measurement investments

Matt Adby, Director, Regional Consumer Products & Materials, X-Rite shares his six top tips to maximise colour measurement investments and ensure accurate colour production each and every time – year after year

With so much riding on getting colour right, brands and their manufacturers are investing in the latest colour management solutions including colour specification, measurement, formulation and quality control tools and software. These solutions help streamline the design to production process, accelerate time to market and reduce rework and waste. With the latest technology, suppliers can start matching, formulating and accurately producing brand colour in days instead of weeks

However, colour management isn’t a “set it and forget it” process. Consistent colour production requires ongoing maintenance and monitoring. Neglecting this can result in inconsistent colour, longer approval cycles, increased rework and rejects, and higher costs.

Here are six tips to maximise your colour measurement investments and ensure accurate colour production each and every time – year after year.

Use the right measurement device and measurement modes

Investing in a spectrophotometer doesn’t automatically guarantee accurate data. The most common cause of incorrect measurements is using the wrong device settings or measurement modes. Spectrophotometers vary in size, geometry, functionality and accuracy. If your measurements don’t align with your customers’, ensure you are using a similar device (0°/45°, sphere, or multi-angle) and measurement settings specified in the digital standard. For example, if you are using spherical instruments are you using SCI or SCE, UV calibrated, UV filtered, etc. Also, verify that you are using the correct illuminant, aperture size, and observer angle.

For measuring liquids, powders, small, large, or oddly shaped samples, or wet samples, appropriate spectrophotometer accessories like adjustable stands or sample holders are essential. These accessories ensure accurate measurements and prevent device or sample damage. If unsure about the best spectrophotometer for your application or the appropriate measurement conditions, consult with your customer, supplier or an application specialist from the device manufacturer.

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Maintain your spectrophotometer

Spectrophotometers, like cars, can drift over time due to age, wear, and environmental conditions. Proper maintenance by the operator and regular tune-ups by the device manufacturer are crucial.

It sounds simple, but keep your device clean. The aperture must be clean to capture accurate measurements or it’s like looking through a dirty window. If you measure on a manufacturing floor that has airborne contaminants, clean your device regularly. You can also use dust filter kits (from the device manufacturer) to help prevent airborne contaminants from getting into the device. Follow the instructions in your device manual for best practices to clean the aperture, white tile, and other components.

Caption: Difference between a clean vs dirty device

Next, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for service and certification, generally once a year. Factory ISO certification provides quality control teams (and customers) the confidence that the instrument is capturing accurate spectral data. Most device manufacturers offer yearly service care plans that include annual maintenance and repairs.

Validate and optimise device performance monthly

To prevent small errors from accumulating and causing out-of-tolerance issues, optimise your device performance monthly. Use device optimisation software like NetProfiler to quickly validate instrument performance with NIST traceable colour standards and ensure ISO compliance throughout the year. This cloud-based software corrects issues caused by age, wear, or environmental conditions, maintaining peak device performance between factory servicing.

Are you using a fleet of measurement devices and checking inter-instrument agreement?

If you use more than one spectrophotometer across your workflow, you must validate they all continue to operate the same. If each spectrophotometer in your fleet measures a little differently, colour data and production output will reflect this colour difference. Tools like NetProfiler reduce variation between devices by checking wavelength errors, making necessary adjustments, and validating performance for tight inter-instrument agreement.

Using NetProfiler monthly between annual certifications, operators can identify instruments in the fleet needing service and reduce variation between devices- even across production facilities to reduce colour variations between the plants to ensure colour consistency.

Cloud-based fleet management tools offered by device manufacturers provide visibility into the health of all your colour measurement devices. From one dashboard, operators and managers can see the location, monthly calibration reports, certification status, warranty information, and more for the entire fleet of instruments. This real-time information makes it easy to identify devices that may cause colour drift and require service.

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Utilise a connected, digital workflow

Today’s colour measurement solutions make it easy to transition from physical colour standards to an end-to-end digital workflow. This makes communicating, producing and reporting on colour fast and easy. Investing in connected, digital colour solutions ensure a modern approach to colour management that can evolve with market and customer needs.

A truly connected workflow integrates digital colour standards with formulation and quality control software to maximise your investments in color management. Digital standards allow for colour formulation to begin immediately. Advances in formulation software increase colour match rates up to 50% and allow you to work of reuse leftover materials.

Caption: X-Rite Color iMatch formulation software

With a connected solution, you can also measure colour and track/analyse results in quality control software to identify areas for improvement. For example, a fluctuation in temperature due to the change of season or a hot sample that was not cooled properly before measurement can affect the spectral data. Quality control and assurance software tracks and analyses these variables to identify potential errors before they become a problem. Software can also track colour and manufacturing data – from specification to material supplier to manufacturing and assembly. It works with digital standards for the most accurate spectral data and can provide an audit trail to improve communication and compliance across the supply chain.

Provide proper training for employees

Once you make an investment in colour management, you need to train employees on the colour workflow process and how to properly use and maintain the solutions. Employees need an understanding of colour science, colour communication and evaluation. There are several online and in-person colour management trainings (free and paid) hosted by industry associations and vendors that are ideal for new employees as well as anyone who wants a refresher. Ensuring everyone has a base knowledge of colour and follows the same best practices can improve your quality control programme.

Colour is a critical part of the manufacturing process. To get the best out of your investment in colour tools and digital workflows, don’t overlook the importance of maintenance and training. You can dramatically improve product quality and achieve more consistent colour by maintaining your instruments, taking full advantage of technology features, and making minor adjustments to your workflow. The result is precise colour the first time for a faster, more efficient, sustainable and resilient manufacturing process that delivers a high return on investment (ROI).

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