Optimizing Color Control Throughout the Supply Chain

To achieve the stated goals we are conducting experiments on several levels. Data pertaining to the following areas are presented in this report. • Determination of the minimum variability in visual assessment of small color differences in textile samples via the first international replication study. • Assessment of key variables in the textile supply chain and the generation of a fishbone diagram. • Assessment of lighting in standard viewing booths and retail stores. Additional data were reported in the 2004 and 2005 annual report. The following work has been completed in the last 12 months. 1. Assessment of key variables in the textile supply chain pertaining to color control has been completed, and an initial fishbone diagram has been developed. 2. Three statistically valid replications of a conventional gray scale visual color difference experiment and statistical analysis has been completed. 3. Assessment of a set of color difference pairs using a pair comparison test has been completed. 4. Assessment of the scope and limitations of a custom statistical formula, originally developed for visual and instrumental assessment of color differences of object colors, called performance factor (PF/3), has been completed. 5. A unique relatively large area (2 inches by 2 inches) gray scale has been constructed to enable optimum viewing area control, and to compare the influence of gray scale area size on variability in visual assessments. 6. Since submitting the 2005 NTC Annual Report we have presented four conference papers [1-4], two symposium posters [5,6], as well as a 2006 NTC Forum poster, which won ‘Best Poster’ prize for the Chemistry section. To date, this brings to nine the total publications for this project [1-9].