Determine your unique test "factor" numbers to ensure consistency, reduce test paper usage and improve your quality control process.
Test strips in the warehouse
Situation: Norman Tool 's standard abrasion test paper has been very stable for over 30 years, but recent changes in the paper industry have forced our suppliers to make changes beyond our control. For paper manufacturers, meeting today's government and environmental requirements while maintaining quality, consistency and profitability, and meeting customer expectations has become a difficult juggling act. Their variables include wood source and type, other cellulose sources (vegetable, recycled paper, etc.), chemical vs. mechanical pulping processes, acids, bleaches, deinking processes, chemical additives (chalk, clay, etc.), whitening/brightening components etc.
We understand these challenges facing the paper industry and always test every batch of papers we receive. Our tests identify a "factor" number that you can use to make your tests more consistent. The factor deviates from our historical norm of 1.00. A factor above 1.00 means the strip is slightly more abrasive, so it requires fewer cycles and fewer strips. Conversely, a factor below 1.00 means the test strip is slightly less abrasive, so more cycles and more test strips are required.
This factor adjustment system has worked for many years, but the previously mentioned changes in the paper industry created some new and surprising results for our test papers that required additional testing and validation. First, the changes made by our longest-running test strip supplier yielded a factor of 0.70, which is too low for a long-term solution. After unsuccessfully trying to resolve the situation, we conducted an exhaustive search for a new supplier of test strips. As the industry has changed, no company can match our original 1.00 standard, but we have found one manufacturer who can consistently provide a 0.90 factor test strip.
Question : As always, the 0.90 factor is based on our internal testing on test panels coated with organic paint. In the past, this factor could be applied consistently to other paints, but this is not always the case with today's test strips. We've learned that our new test paper is more abrasive to certain types of coatings, can be obtained by a factor of up to 2.00, and requires fewer cycles and fewer test papers.
Solution: To eliminate any inconsistencies that may exist in your testing, you should develop test panels that use the exact coating and determine your "standard" wear test number. You can then determine your own unique factors to adjust when using new test strips or confirming your test strips. See instructions below.
illustrate:
Develop test panels for each coating you test.
Run several wear tests on these test panels to determine the average number of failures and use this as a standard.
To confirm or determine the factor of the test paper, test the plate again with a different test paper.
Example: If your standard failure number is 300 and your new test paper is 250, the factor is 1.20 (ie 300/250). Always divide your standard number by the new number.
