The Latest News & Information from Colour Technologies Australasia and The Novasys Group

GENERAL EDITION

Volume G4 Issue 7 2 December 2005

Table of Contents

1. Need Colour Measurement? Now's the Time to ACT!
2. Are all Colorimeters the Same? Don't be caught with a non-standard Instrument! Read the Fine Print!
3. What is a Good Roll? Slitters and Winders Take Note. Proceq yourselves!
4. "New Kids" On the Block in NSW
5. Increased Crude Oil Price = Higher Solvent Costs. Recover and SAVE!
6. Fun Stuff.......

Need Colour Measurement? Now's the Time to ACT!

If colour makes a difference to the perceived quality of a product, most organisations do not need convincing of the value of the ability to objectively measure colour.

However, the technology of the instrumentation and the performance of the software have changed significantly in the past few years, so that the newer products provide much better value at a lower cost.

Perhaps now is the time to invest before the A$ falls back to the levels of a few years ago.

We also have a larger range of instruments available for demonstration right now, thanks to our colleagues in Hong Kong, who have made them available to us for a while; but not for ever!

We have a ColorQuest XE bench-top diffuse sensor, a LabScan XE 0/45 sensor with Variable Sample Illumination, a ColorTrend HT in-line monitor, an entry level ColorFlex diffuse and a MiniScan XE diffuse portable hand-held. The last two can operate with on-board firmware or integrated software on a PC, while the others use the latest EasyMatch QC software and third party software for formulation of paints and textiles.

We welcome enquiries from all industries for on-site demonstrations and firm quotes in US$. Don’t wait until the fall in Aussie dollar adds to the cost.

And don’t forget…. If you require an upgrade, we’ll trade in your old instrument - whether it is working or not!

Contact Novasys for more information.

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Are all Colorimeters the Same? Don't be caught with a non-standard Instrument! Read the Fine Print!

The manufacturers of some colorimeters do not actually hide the fact that their instruments do not meet CIE Standards, or that they cannot reproduce the conditions required to meet best commercial practice, but put this information in the fine print where it may not be noticed.

What’s more, you’ll pay handsomely for this privilege. Such colorimeters can cost significantly more than spectrophotometers that meet all CIE and commercial requirements! Smart marketing, but is it honest?

One well-known brand of colorimeter states in the fine print of its specifications; Observer, “2 degrees, closely matches (our italics) CIE 1931 Standard Observer”, NOT, “reproduces CIE 1931 Standard Observer”.

How come? To cut a long story short, the red colour matching function for either of the 1931 2° Standard Observer or the 1964 10° Standard Observer has two peaks and to faithfully reproduce the Standard Observer, four, not three, filters are required in a colorimeter; two red filters, a green and a blue. If only one red filter is present, the Standard Observer cannot be reproduced!

Reading further, the same manufacturer states that the only Illuminants available are D65 and C. The C/2 Illuminant/Observer combination is still used by some sections of the food and paper industries, but is otherwise obsolete. Best commercial practice in the Textile, Plastics, Paint and other coatings, Pigments, Chemicals, Minerals etc., is to use the better Illuminant/Observer combination of D65/10, since the 10° Observer better meets commercial reality of large samples.

Other well known deficiencies of colorimeters when compared with spectrophotometers include absence of spectral data, relatively poor inter-instrument agreement and inability to detect metamerism.

If these instruments are diffuse instruments with the specular component included, any effect on appearance due to the surface of the measured specimen is ignored, so correlation between instrumental results and visual assessments under these circumstances will be poor.

The bottom line is that these instruments have very limited capabilities, such as batch-to-batch and batch-to-Standard comparison of non-metameric products with the same surface characteristics and are in any event vastly inferior in virtually all respects – including price – to spectrophotometers.

The question, “How can use of these instruments be justified for any application where compliance with CIE Standards is required?” can only be answered by the prospective user.

A recent quote for one of these instruments with separate measuring head and processor priced it at A$16,800, plus $700 for a hard sided carry case plus A$4,200 for QC software. A total of A$21,700. Compare this with a HunterLab MiniScan XE Plus hand-held, portable spectrophotometer at A$9930, including on-board – not separate – processor and hard sided carry case. With optional software priced at A$2170, the total price is A$11,500! Where is the value in the overpriced colorimeter?

If, for example, you are using such a colorimeter to calibrate an NIR instrument, one has to ask… Why?

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What is a Good Roll? Slitters and Winders Take Note. Proceq yourselves!

What is a good roll? Any baker will tell you that it must be the right shape, the right size, the right consistency – not too hard and not too soft. It must look good; no blemishes or visual defects and it must have a good aroma.

A slitter winder operator will tell you that a good roll of paper is one that:

* Is the right shape – round and proper width
* Is the right size – not too big or too small
* Is of the right consistency – not too hard or too soft
* It must look good – no blemishes or visual defects]
* Aroma? – Well start shipping your customers bad rolls and they’ll start raising a stink!

Customers demand rolls that run without problems. Most will say that if a roll looks good and feels good it will run problems.

Roll density or hardness is probably the most important factor in determining the difference between good and bad rolls. Rolls that are wound too soft will go out of round while winding, or will go out of round when handled or stored.

In the latest APPITA Journal, Technical Notes, McDonald, Hamel and Menard of Paprican discuss in an article recently published in Pulp and Paper Canada (106 (5):35 (2005) the importance of rolls to be made as hard and resistant as possible in order to avoid imbalances on the printing press leading to variations in web tension causing misregister and even web breaks.

Others, including converters, believe there are optimum roll hardnesses dictated by different web products and different applications, but once the desired roll hardness profile is determined, it needs to be measured and then reproduced on a consistent basis.

Hitting the rolls with a stick and feeling and listening to the sound is one subjective way of determining roll hardness, but for control and reproduction this method is pretty useless and a measurement tool is required.

Recognising the need for a specialised hardness meter, Proceq SA developed in consultation with the paper industry, the portable PAROtester2 that allows roll hardness and hardness profile of rolls to be measured objectively, repeatably, immediately and everywhere.

Contact us for full details and if you wish, a very interesting article by R. Duane Smith of Black Clawson Converting Machinery Inc. entitled “The Art of Winding Good Rolls”.

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"New Kids" on the Block in NSW

We’re very happy to announce the appointment of Analytical Technologies Australia Pty Ltd as our Associates in Central and Northern NSW.

ATA will develop new business opportunities in their region which takes in all of NSW north of the Riverina area as well as the ACT.

ATA already have a sound reputation for instrument sales and service in NSW and we are looking forward to enhancing that reputation with products Novasys already provide.

Given the specialised nature of colour instrumentation and applications, we shall be helping ATA to increase HunterLab’s market share in NSW by assisting with demonstrations and presentations until ATA are confident they can do it on their own.

Novasys will continue to manage “national” accounts where appropriate and those products still being introduced into the Australian market, ATA will be encouraged to learn about new products so that once these have settled in and any introductory issues overcome they can carry the ball on our behalf.

ATA are located in Glenbrook, west of Sydney. For assistance with product enquiries, contact Richard Lewis on (02) 4739 9057, or email sydney@atechnologies.com.au.

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Increased Crude Oil Prices = Higher Solvent Costs. Recover and SAVE!

Companies with dirty solvents have two legal methods of disposal; have them taken away for recovery or other disposal off-site or,

Recover yourself with an OFRU recycling system and SAVE!

Benefits include:

* Recycle valuable raw materials with high yield
* Independence from external recovery companies
* Be certain of keeping your own original solvents with the same quality
* Clean, high quality solvents always available
* Reduction in purchase and disposal costs of up to 95%
* Low operating costs
* Short payback, usually less than 12 months
* Reduction in stored solvent costs of up to 90%
* Conformation with Environmental (ISO) standards

There are 20 different OFRU solvent recovery systems range from small units of 20 litres, to professional units with 3000 litre capacity.

Batch and automatic non-stop operation, continuous solvent filling systems are available to meet every need.

Any producer or user of solvent based inks and surface coatings has the potential to save with an OFRU system. OFRU have 25 years experience in providing safe, reliable, low maintenance and efficient solvent recovery systems.

Ask us today how your company can begin to save costs with an OFRU solvent recovery system.

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Fun Stuff........

Listen to Air Traffic Control – Live!
http://www.thetracon.com/links/linkLIVE.htm

See your favourite movie in 30 seconds….Re-enacted by rabbits!
http://www.angryalien.com/

Need to know here somewhere is? Maps to everywhere…
http://www.multimap.com/

Is your dog a genius?
http://abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/default.htm

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