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Plastic manufacturing has grown significantly since the 1950s, surpassing that of any other material. Today, plastics see use in markets ranging from automotive to goods packaging to food and beverage production. Plastic color is and will continue to be pivotal as the primary determinant by which consumers judge product quality and desirability, yet accurately quantifying it comes with unique challenges.

Common Challenges in Plastic Color Measurement

Typical plastic color measurement challenges include the following.

Natural Yellowing

Virgin plastic resins naturally yellow during processing as a result of oxidation. Additional yellowing can occur with age or exposure to ultraviolet rays. To achieve clear or almost clear end products, manufacturers must add optical brighteners that fluoresce on the blue side of the visible spectrum to negate the yellowness. That translates into almost all plastic goods containing at least some percentage of optical brighteners. As a result, these materials inherently fluoresce and introduce more complexity to achieving the desired clarity and visual chromatic qualities.

Regulatory Pressures

Government entities worldwide are passing ever-stricter regulations on the percentage of post-consumer recycled plastic that must be used in new plastic production to prioritize a more circular economy. An increase in the amount of recycled plastic used causes a corresponding rise in the amount of optical brighteners and other additives in feedstock that manufacturers must adjust for.

These challenges make accurate color measurements even more pivotal since one variation in the input can substantially impact the outcomes.

ESG Initiatives

In addition to governmental action, modern plastics manufacturers are feeling similar pressures from their stakeholders. Consumers, employees, and investors alike increasingly call for more sustainable practices and transparency in environmental impact.

To account for these pressures, many companies enact Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives that help achieve the six principles of a more circular economy. These pillars include minimizing waste, maximizing resources, saving energy, and reducing carbon footprint.

How to Resolve Color Measurement Challenges in Plastics

Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to resolve color measurement challenges with plastics production.

Spectrophotometers are invaluable to many industries, ranging from the food to plastics industries and beyond, delivering the color consistency necessary to streamline supply chain efficiencies and maximize product quality. The key to ensuring reliable performance and color measurement quality is knowing how to properly maintain a spectrophotometer.

What Is the Function of a Spectrophotometer?

A spectrophotometer scientifically measures the color of materials using a light source, wavelength-selective optics, sensors, and software to convert emitted energy to an industry-standard color scale. This measurement enables companies to verify the quality and consistency of their products, ingredients, and raw materials. The device mimics how the human eye sees color but eliminates error-prone manual visual observations for higher accuracy.

Best Practices for Using and Taking Care of Your Spectrophotometer

Spectrophotometers must undergo the proper routine maintenance to deliver the most precise and accurate measurements. With the right standardization and care, you can ensure your color spectrophotometer performs at its best.

1. Perform Routine Maintenance

A well-maintained device provides the most accurate and reliable readings. Maintenance begins with a thorough cleaning. No matter how well-calibrated your device is, it won’t deliver accurate or consistent readings if it isn’t clean. That’s why it’s vital to ensure your spectrophotometer is free of dirt, dust, grime, and other contaminants that can obscure measurement results.

When cleaning your equipment, it’s crucial to follow the best practices outlined in your user manual to avoid damaging the device and invalidating your warranty. Avoid using any harsh or abrasive tools or substances when cleaning your spectrophotometer.

Cleaning frequency varies based on the components. The exterior of the sensor and mounting generally require weekly cleaning. If your work involves messy samples that contact the sensor, you may also have to clean between measurements.

You should also consider your environment when determining cleaning frequency. For example, a unit stored in a dusty, poorly ventilated closet will require more routine cleanings than one contained in an air-conditioned office.

Other routine maintenance checks include:

• Inspecting and cleaning the power cord
• Verifying the optics are clean and in good condition
• Testing general structures like the device touch screen or buttons

Beyond these general checks, each model operates differently. Check the owner's manual for additional maintenance procedures specific to the device.

HunterLab’s Global Commitment: Stability, Service, and Support Amid Supply Chain Pressures

As global trade conditions continue to evolve, businesses across industries are navigating new levels of complexity. At HunterLab, we understand how these pressures can affect your planning, operations, and service expectations. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring that our color measurement solutions remain consistent, available, and fully supported — no matter the global environment.

For over 70 years, HunterLab has helped customers around the world maintain color quality with precision instrumentation and reliable service. In times of uncertainty, that commitment only grows stronger.

Why Global Conditions Matter in Color Measurement

Whether you’re formulating products in food, plastics, chemicals, or textiles, accurate color measurement is essential to brand consistency and quality control. But behind every precise measurement tool is a complex global supply chain — and today, that landscape is changing rapidly.

Businesses are feeling the effects of:

- Increased transportation costs

- Longer lead times due to port and customs delays

- Supply constraints for critical electronic and optical components

- Shifts in international trade policies and sourcing strategies

This environment has the potential to impact availability and cost structures across the instrument manufacturing industry. But at HunterLab, we are actively working to minimize that impact for our customers and partners.

Color is one of the first sensory processes humans experience. It can alert us to potential danger, like the orange of a safety cone, or tell us what flavor we might expect from a piece of candy.

Long-term changes to color appearance can have negative impacts — a dusty pink fire engine isn't going to draw attention as effectively as a bright red one. Learning about color stability and understanding its importance, challenges, and the best way to ensure it can help you prevent unwanted deviations from the intended, expected, and desired results.

Defining the Stability of Color

In its simplest terms, color stability refers to how well a material can maintain a consistent color throughout its life span. 

It's important to note that color stability substantially differs from color consistency and constancy. While maintaining those traits is also vital, these terms refer more to eliminating chromatic variations across batches, production lines, facilities, and observation conditions like illumination.

Factors That Can Impact Color Stability

Multiple factors can cause alterations in chromaticity as time passes. As a result, changes can arise during any manufacturing stage and throughout material storage and distribution. Excess exposure to the following can impact color stability:

• Moisture
• Oxygen
• Light and UV rays
• Extreme temperatures
• Chemicals

The Importance of Color Stability

Maintaining color over time is vital for several reasons.

Quality

Color and quality are inherently intertwined. Chromaticity that meets a consumer's expectations encourages them to form a positive brand image. When color conforms to industry standards, it also showcases your company as one committed to best practices. Color stability helps support these outcomes by ensuring long-lasting durability, which boosts perceived value.

Safety and Compliance

In many products, color stability goes hand in hand with safety. Consider goods like reflective safety tape, camouflage military uniforms, and edible oils, where color alterations over time can impact visibility or indicate potential contamination that would make it unsafe for consumption. Additionally, products whose color maintains acceptable tolerances in highly regulated industries prevent unnecessary fines or penalties.

Appeal

Customers may see color as the primary determinant in their purchasing decisions for certain items, like vinyl siding and roofing shingles. Remodeling a home exterior is a significant investment that consumers expect to last for years. Customers don't just want it to look good now — they want to know the color they see at first is the color they can expect it to stay, even after long-term exposure to the elements. 

Color is one of the first things that comes to mind when thinking of candy, as this sweet comes in a rainbow of vibrant hues. The importance of appearance in candy means that those who manufacture it should follow industry best practices to ensure an enjoyable consumer experience.

Consider the Importance of Color

Before you start measuring, note why color matters in candy. Consumers judge food based on appearance, and color sets expectations for quality and taste. Beyond those expectations, color influences whether customers buy a product. They repeatedly turn to brands that offer color consistency as a reliable indicator of quality.

Color consistency can play a major role in whether a consumer chooses one brand's product over another. That means businesses that work with plastic, either as a product or a packaging material, need to pay close attention to their color formulas and the consistency of their outputs. 

Quality control specialists in every industry have recognized the benefits of using a spectrophotometer to measure product colors, ensuring better consistency and branding — and alignment with sustainability goals.

What Factors Affect Plastic Color?

Your plastic may look right as you process it, but will it look the same when it hits the shelves? Product appearances can differ from store to store and shelf to shelf due to factors like:

• Light: All color is based on the way light reflects off an object. Understanding how color changes under different light sources can help you see why a color measurement tool is crucial in maintaining consistency.
• Opacity: Plastic ranges from being totally opaque to transparent, and variations in opacity can change the way its color is perceived. The same coloration formula can produce different results across multiple pieces of plastic based on the level of transparency each piece holds. 

• Gloss: Plastic can be matte or glossy. The glossier a piece of plastic is, the more likely the finish is to affect the product's appearance. 

Achieving uniformity, repeatability, and consistency is the best way to ease consumer scrutiny. Fortunately, powerful solutions exist to help you capture, quantify, and track color accurately to maintain your high quality standards.

The process of turning raw cocoa beans into powder takes many steps. Slight variations throughout any stage could create differences in the final product. As a quality manager in the manufacturing of cocoa, you look to avoid process variations that could decrease cocoa powder quality. 

A spectrophotometer is a powerful tool for cocoa quality control. It allows you to quantify the color of the powder and its raw ingredients to identify any differences. Assessing color data throughout various stages lets you see where variations arise so you can more knowledgeably adapt your processes. 

Understanding Process Variation in Cocoa Powder Production

Process variation refers to fluctuations during production that may cause deviations from the expected outcome. In cocoa powder production, variations might include a higher roasting temperature, which creates a darker powder. Some types of process variations happen naturally and won't cause a significant change in the final product. In more severe cases, a variation could lead to substantial changes, which may require disposing of a batch or spending additional time fixing it. 

Where Does Process Variation Appear?

Cocoa powder production involves numerous stages, where even a slight change in each may influence the outcomes. Process variation occurs for different reasons, including a lack of standardization, human error, or random fluctuation. 

Some examples of process variations that influence appearance include:

• Raw materials: Cocoa beans have a natural genetic variety that influences color. 
• Processing: Changes in time, temperature, or other factors during fermentation, drying, roasting, and grinding could change the appearance. 
• Chemical treatments: Dutch-process cocoa powder undergoes alkalinization, which makes it appear darker. Changes in the alkalinization may influence the lightness. 
• Equipment standardization: Roasters and grinders perform differently depending on contamination from previous batches or setting changes.

Environmental factors: Temperature, humidity, and other factors influence appearance when introduced during drying and storage.