Kalon's colourful recipe for success
Kalon's colourful recipe for success
Kalon Group plc has become one of Europe's three largest decorative paint manufacturers, achieving its position through a highly strategic mixture of growth and acquisition. Its product portfolio now embraces famous names such as Leyland, Johnson and Manders.
Helen George, quality control technician at Kalon, uses the ProPalette system
"Each of the companies we acquired had its own specific colour range and a customer base that expected most of that range to continue to be available", said Guy Burgoine, one of the Senior Technologists at Kalon's main UK site in Batley, West Yorkshire. "We faced some real challenges to recreate all the ranges in our production system here."
The solution to the problem turned out to be part of Kalon's on-going development programme for faster colour matching and quality control, spurred on in part by the company's status as a leading supplier of own-brand ranges to major DIY retailers.
"We began using the GretagMacbeth Optimatch DOS-based system six years ago to provide more accurate colour formulation," explained Guy, "but eventually we began to need more than that system could offer. We decided to look around."
Kalon proceeded to run trial databases for five of the leading colour systems then available, but included a completely new software development from GretagMacbeth. "Even in its primary stage the new software was much better than the others," said Guy. " It met our main criteria, the most accurate first time matching."
Kalon took on the new product, ProPalette, effectively as a Beta site in 1995 and has worked with GretagMacbeth in progressing what has recently become ProPalette 1.7 release. Guy added, "We are very pleased with the result. Our accuracy of colour matching has vastly improved."
ProPalette was designed to offer new colour production system features including the automatic determination of recipes based on user variable criteria such as colour difference, cost or maximum colourants to be used in formulae. For new matches the system will suggest the four closest successful recipes. The sophisticated calibration process will then consider the effect of colorant characteristics on the end colour of the batch and formulate the least amount required to achieve required opacity.
The production demands at Kalon's Batley plant and the smaller Morley site amounts to around 11Ž2 million litres per week and requires three shifts, working around the clock. ProPalette is used to formulate new shades and to produce and correct colour from the extensive product base library of over 2,000 different colours. One new application anticipated for the system will be in wood care products. Since ProPalette has a unique feature of colour matching transparents and translucents with equal ability to opaques, it is ideal for stains and varnishes.
One service that Kalon has offered its depots and stockists (over 400 in the UK) for the past five years,is a colour matching service on a special order basis. This is from samples supplied back to the laboratory at Birstall which could include other substrates, such as fabric. "Clearly," said Guy, "the ProPalette system with its first time matching performance is ideal for improving the speed and reliability of creating colours on demand."
Details from Gretag Macbeth Ltd, Pacific Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 5BJ. Tel: +44 (0) 161 926 9822; Fax: +44 (0) 161 926 9835.
