Color Done Right

How important is color to your processing operation? My guess is very important. Brand owners and OEMS use color for many of their marketing and product-differentiation activities, and it’s vital that injection molders, blow molders, and extruders of all kinds furnish them with components and packaging materials get color spot on … every time.

Do you get color spot-on every time? Or is it a hit-and-miss, trial-and-error proposition? In my experience, many processors find working with color a challenge. That’s where we come in.

Plastics Technology will be publishing a supplement—that’s “publication speak” for a separate magazine that will be polybagged with the regular issue of the magazine—in September. It will be packed with hands-on tips, best practices, and troubleshooting advice aimed at assisting processors to improve the quality, consistency/repeatability, and efficiency of their coloring operations when working with masterbatches in either liquid or solid form.

We are calling this supplement Color Done Right. If you recall, we did a similar supplement in 2014 on the subject of drying, called Drying Done Right. Each of our subscribers received that supplement, and I personally received requests from dozens of processors for extra copies they could pass out to all of their material handlers. Every subscriber to Plastics Technology will be receiving the color supplement as well. And my hope is you’ll want to keep it handy, because the information in it will still be useful days, weeks, months, and years later.

Let me give you a quick preview:

The first feature will provide troubleshooting tips from the perspective of the color masterbatch supplier ... that is, what are the 10 or so typical problems or mistakes processors typically encounter when working with color, what are the solutions, and what best practices should be employed to ensure these problems don’t recur.

The second feature will shift focus to the equipment side of things, in particular looking at the equipment and on-line instrumentation and measurement devices processors use to meter color in the process and QC parts on the production line. Again, the focus will be on tips, best practices, and troubleshooting.

The third feature will focus on those processors who have demonstrated prowess in working with color and delivering on-spec product. It will delve into their color operation and discuss the practices they have put in place in this area.

It’s the aim of Plastics Technology to provide its audience—in print, online, and in person at our conference programs—with information they can use every day to improve the efficiencies of their operation. With respect to color, we hope to hit the mark once again.