Changing the Game in Liquid Color

A long-time pro in liquid color continues to make liquid color and additives an option that an increasing number of processors and brand owners in packaging and consumer goods are finding more and more attractive.

Paul Maguire, president of Riverdale Global, is as always enthused about the various elements of what he considers his company’s game-changing technology, which he believes has brought liquid color and additives to the forefront of coloring processes.

Starting with the  company’s liquid color and additive formulation know-how, these elements range from its gravimetric delivery systems from affiliate Maguire Products, including the Pump-in-a-Drum (PIAD) system, which keeps liquid color sealed off before, during, and after its use by the processor; to local supply services/satellites that include proprietary systems for color blending and matching, free delivery and automatic pickup of empty containers.

Riverdale currently has four satellite facilities: Warrington, U.K.; Perth Amboy, N.J.; Ashton, Penn.; and High Point, N.C., with more underway. “We will have one in Ohio and one in Mexico very soon, with another in Mexico, one in Texas, and possibly one in Chicago by year’s end,” says Maguire. Riverdale’s new High Point, N.C. facility not only serves as a satellite but is now a major manufacturing facility with automated milling and dispersion capabilities and similar technical capabilities overall to the company’s Perth Amboy, N.J. operation.

Visitors can find out first hand at Booth S22023 what these advantages, are and how the company’s ‘Computerized Color’ technology and service offerings continue to evolve and excel.

Riverdale is now offering GlobalTracker, a new color-tracking software, available at no cost, that uses real-time, company-wide data from liquid-color metering devices to automate many of the customer’s purchasing, production management, and compliance functions. It also can make remote troubleshooting possible.

The company has also developed a new carrier formulation system for its liquid colorants and additives that has been shown to work well with recycled content—both industrial scrap or post consumer—in eliminating deterioration of physical properties.

Moreover, the company is showcasing its patent-pending modified metering systems (and those of Maguire Products), which allow them to pick up two machine signals—screw recovery and injection—and actively feed liquid or solid color during both phases, with the metering system running about three times faster during the injection phase. This is said to ensure that color or additives are being metered at all times that the resin is entering the screw. Ultimately, molders can use less colorant in translucent parts without risk of undercoloring.