The application of instrumental colour management to the manufacture of powder coatings

The rapid growth of the powder coatings industry over the past ten years has brought with it dramatic changes in the technology of the manufacturing process and in the products themselves. Powder coatings have become recognised as a high performance and cost‐effective alternative to conventional wet paint systems. The increasing numbers of discerning end users who have adopted powder as a finishing process have demanded demonstrable improvements in product quality and performance over their existing finishing systems. This has lent additional impetus to the drive for better products and has accelerated the pace of technological change within the industry. Pressure on powder manufacturers has resulted in increasingly tighter requirements for consistency of product quality and none more so than in control of the colour of the powder coating, especially for demanding applications such as architectural and domestic appliance coatings.