Get Color Right

Color Quality Control

What Is Color Quality Control?

Color quality control means managing and maintaining consistency of colored products from design to customer delivery.

In industrial settings, color quality control ensures colors consistently meet specific standards across production batches, materials, facilities and supply chains. Due to natural differences in human color perception, visual evaluation alone is not enough for a strong color control program. Effective color quality control uses specialized tools, software, and techniques to objectively measure and manage color accuracy, maintaining brand integrity and product appeal.

Rigorous color quality control helps detect and correct deviations early in the production process, reducing waste and rework. This is crucial in industries like textiles, paints, coatings, cosmetics, packaging, and plastics, where slight color variations can significantly impact production timelines, product quality, brand perception, and customer satisfaction.

Why Is Color Quality Control Important?

Picture this: You’re in a store looking at a rack of 10 shirts in the same identical color but one looks a shade or two off, would you purchase the one that was different? If you went to a grocery store and noticed that one of the bottles of ketchup was lighter than the others, would you buy that bottle? Probably not. You would likely assume there is a quality issue and avoid it.

These scenarios highlight how incorrect or inconsistent colors can affect brand perception. While color quality control is important across many industries, the impact of poor color quality control is different depending on whether you are a brand, manufacturer, or supplier.

Color Quality Control for Brands and Manufacturers

From a brand or manufacturer perspective, a robust color quality control program ensures product consistency, brand integrity and customer trust. It minimizes costly errors and waste by detecting color deviations early, reducing the need for multiple rounds of samples, and preventing defective products. Additionally, when you have a set standard color management operating procedure, it enhances operational efficiency and smooths supply chain coordination, leading to better overall business performance and customer satisfaction.

Color Quality Control for Suppliers

From a supplier perspective, a good color quality control program is essential for ensuring products meet client specifications, maintaining strong business relationships, and building a reputation for reliability. It also reduces costly returns and rejections due to color mismatches, minimizes waste, and optimizes production efficiency. A robust program allows suppliers to remain competitive and better able to meet customer needs.

Different Types of Color Quality Control Tools

Central to any good color quality control program are specialized devices, software and tools that help you manage color and ensure that colors meet both your technical specifications and your aesthetic expectations.

Digital Color Quality Control Devices

Spectrophotometers are used to set standards for color, perform quality control checks of samples, and maintain consistency of product color quality over time.

  • Spectro 1000 family: For high accuracy color measurement of solid color materials
  • SpectraVision: For high accuracy color measurement of multi-colored materials
  • Datacolor 200 family: Ideal for retail paint stores, these benchtop devices are compact and affordable
  • Check3 and 45 family: Handheld devices for production floor quality control checks

Color Quality Control Software

Color quality control software helps you develop, visualize, analyze, and communicate color accurately and objectively throughout a supply chain to eliminate guesswork.

  • Datacolor Tools: Color development and quality control in various industries
  • Colibri ColorQuality: Ideal for the plastic industry, this module within Colibri software enables color quality control an improved communication between color managers, production and partners

Other Color Quality Control Tools

While digital color quality control tools can help you get color right the first time, physical evaluation in a lightbooth is still important to make sure that the color you set forth to achieve visually matches the output.

man measuring the color of a red object with spectrophotometer

Elements of Successful Color Quality Control Programs

There are many aspects to a successful color quality control program. The most important include:

Defining Objectives and Requirements: Identify your color quality control goals and document your requirements.

Establishing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Employ the use of color standards and standardize the color management process across your organization and supply chain. Everything from the lighting conditions, to acceptable tolerances, to preparing a sample for measurement should be included.

Selecting Appropriate Color Quality Control Tools: A combination of digital devices, software, and possibly other color quality control tools like light booths are necessary.

Implementing a Monitoring and Reporting System: Ensure your SOPs are being followed, track how frequently colors are being rejected and maintain your color data.

Conducting Regular Training, Audits, and Improvements: Auditing your color program on a regular basis can identify weaknesses early and keep production on track. Annual training keeps your employees skill level sharp and ensures they are following the set SOPs.

 

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