Asked by a potential client if Rustins Limited could accurately recreate a complete line of over 150 specialty paints for its loyal customers, the UK-based paint and dye manufacturer replied resoundingly "yes".
After supplying the samples and securing the business, Rustins was challenged to accurately match such a large paint swatch in just a few months. “In the past, if a company wanted to develop new paints and finishes, Rustins experienced technicians would usually match colors by eye. But at this time, it is not practical to use this method to match more than 150 colors, and there is a lack of proven color matching. objective approach," said Edward Krawitt, managing director of Rustins.
To meet tight deadlines and stringent color standards, Rustins turned to the expertise of X-Rite, Inc., the world's premier manufacturer of color Measurement Instruments and software.
Rustins used a X-Rite i5 Spectrophotometer and added the tinting strength data for different pigment dispersions to the Spectrophotometer 's database. In just a few minutes, Rustins was able to determine the precise amount of pigment that made up the subtle variation in the color of the client's paint.
“It was a bit frustrating when we first came up with a 150-color formula—the client offered more than 15 shades of gray alone,” says Krawitt. "The trick is matching all the colors. We need a Spectrophotometer to work out all the recipes."
"Now we can use Spectrophotometer s to control quality, help us match colors and determine closer color matches—something we've never done before."
But for Rustins, who employs about 50 full-time employees at company headquarters and factories in suburban London, effective color matching is only part of the production process. "At the same time, we needed to implement quality control to meet our and our customers' stringent requirements for color stability," Krawitt said. "The loyal users are a very demanding bunch, and we didn't want to disappoint them."
This all meant that the project required hundreds of hours of research and planning to ensure that the customer sold millions of cans of coatings that met the required specifications each year in more than 65 countries.
Rustins used X-Rite's ColoriMatch V7.0 software to determine the initial formulation, and for the new line recently installed to fill 15 to 125 ml cans, it used ColoriQC software to control its batches of paint to maintain consistent tolerances.
Rustins has an excellent reputation in the coatings and finishes industry. In 1924, Sidney Rustin founded the company in the Shoreditch area of London. As a manufacturer and seller of fine wood polishing products, the company quickly won the favor of local residents and businessmen. Since then, Rustins has been developing and manufacturing a line of home decorative paints and finishes with new formulations, including a low-VOC water-based oil for wood.
Krawitt said X-Rite's new Spectrophotometer could open up new ideas for creating more new products. “We will continue to use Spectrophotometer s for all of our products, including our wood finishes and increasingly our specialty coatings portfolio,” he said. income."
Rustins decided to purchase X-Rite equipment and software because of the quality and support of the instruments. "These products are very feature-rich," Krawitt added. "We can see that we have a lot of features that we haven't used, but we will use someday."
