STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

TITLE Colour Matching Tolerances and Process

Ref & Version No PD 15_1

WRITTEN BY Rod Finnen

EFFECTIVE DATE 20th October 2017

APPROVED BY: Mike Holland

SUPERSEDES None

AMENDMENTS TO PREVIOUS VERSIONS

Page No. Context Revision Date

PURPOSE 1) To control the lab dip / colour matching process 2) To clarify the colour description methodology used to communicate required changes in colour INPUT FROM Designer Product Developer Supplier

OUTPUT TO Supplier Designer & Product Developer

PROCESS MAP

PROCESS ROLE

DEPARTMENT

PROCESS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

WELSPUN UK DESIGNER RESPONSIBILITY

The “Designer” is responsible for all colour decisions during the course of a new product

development, although colour comments may (from time to time) be communicated via the Product Developer or Technical Manager. COLOUR STANDARDS & COLOUR REQUESTS

The Designer will communicate to the supplier, colour requests in the form of:-

a) ) CAD Printouts b) Fabric swatches and / or paper cuttings taken from non-standard sources i.e. magazines etc c) Previous product developments d) Pantone references

In the case of fabric swatches, these will be clearly marked by the designer (or product developer), “For Shade Only”. On these occasions, the fabric blend or fibre content is not for matching…they are just for colour.

The fabric construction will be specified in the Design brief.

SUPPLIER RESPONSIBLITY

From the Design perspective, the hue of the colour is critical in that it creates the “Feel” of the

product or range of products i.e. the warmth associated with orange hues or the coldness with blue hues.

Therefore, Laboratory submissions must be a reasonable visual match

One the Designer has approved the lab dip, then colour tolearnces will apply to ensure this approved dip shade is transferred through the preproduction sample and on to bulk.

For these latter two stages, samples must be colour difference measured, only after conditioning at 20 C with a relative humidity of 65% for 4 hours.

Please note: Laboratory dyeing’s must be colour fast before shade submission to prevent loose colour creating subsequent shade variation.

CREATIVE DESIGN REQUESTS

DESIGN REQUEST TO LAB SUBMIT (Colour difference)

Bedlinen Fabric Towels Rugs

None Reasonable match Reasonable match

Reasonable match

REBUYS OR CUSTOMER SUBMISSIONS OR FACTORY CHANGE OF EXISITNG PRODUCT

DESIGN REQUEST TO LAB SUBMIT (Colour difference)

Bedlinen Fabric Towels Rugs

DE (CMC 2:1) Less than or = 1.0 <= 1.0 <= 1.5

APPROVED LAB DIP TO PP

SAMPLE (Colour difference)

Bedlinen Fabric Towels Rugs

DE (CMC 2:1) Less than or = 1.0 <= 1.0 <= 1.5

APPROVED PP SAMPLE TO GOLD

SEAL (Colour difference)

Bedlinen Fabric Towels Rugs

DE (CMC 2:1) Less than or =1.0 <= 1.0 <= 1.5

The colour difference printout must be submitted with the laboratory dyeing.

SUBMISSION SAMPLE SIZE - FABRICS

For Terry and Plain/Jacquard/Print Strike offs….ideally sample size should be as large as possible, preferably 10 cm x 10 cm fixed to cards with double sided sticky tape.

SUBMISSION SAMPLES SIZE – YARN DYED.

To appraise the colour of yarn dye submissions, there must be a dense layer of yarn through

which to view the true colour, this is best achieved by having the yarn wound onto a card, approximately 5 cm x 5 cm (see LHS Photo below) and NOT supplied as yarn strands as the

photo below (RHS)

LIKE THIS NOT LIKE THIS

Where possible, a hand loom swatch for jacquard bedlinen submits is preferred. COLOUR ASSESSMENT

The Designer will assess the conditioned colour swatch along with the Product Developer, in a standard light box under Daylight (D65) and Store (TL84) light sources. The colour difference

print out will enable them to communicate any shade change requests.

The lab submissions must NOT be metameric.

D65 TL84

COLOUR DESCRIPTIONS & COMMENTS

Welspun will communicate colour changes using as far as possible, Dyer’s terminology. Therefore comments will be:-

“Please present a better match within the tolerance” or where descriptions are more appropriate:- Comment on the Hue (Yellow (Greener), Y(R), G(B), G(Y), B(R), B(G), R(Y)) Comment on the Chromaticity (Flatter/Brighter)

Comment on the Strength (Fuller/Thinner)

The technique for describing Hue, is using the above diagram, imagine looking from the Standard towards the batch then noting the first and second axis colours i.e. S1 through B1, First axis is

Yellow, second axis is (Greener)….so Yellower (Greener). In the same way, looking towards the centre…Flatter and towards the outer edge, Brighter. Looking downwards….Fuller and upwards, Thinner. 1) The BATCH B1 in comparison to the STANDARD S1 would be:-

Fuller, Flatter, Yellower (Greener) than the standard. 2) The BATCH B2 in comparison to the STANDARD S2 would be:-

Thinner, Brighter, Redder (Yellower) than the standard. 3) The BATCH B3 in comparison to STANDARD S3 would be:-

Flatter & Fuller but on hue 4) The BATCH B4 in comparison to STANDARD S4 would be:- Flatter, Thinner and Yellower (Redder)

EXAMPLES OF COLOUR DESCRIPTIONS

STANDARD BATCH

The batch is Redder (Bluer), Flatter and Fuller than the Standard or inversely The Standard is Yellower (Greener), Brighter and Thinner than the batch

PANTONE16-5820 PANTONE 18-6216

STANDARD BATCH

The batch is Yellower (Redder), Flatter and Fuller than the standard or inversely The Standard is Greener (Bluer), Brighter and Thinner than the batch

STANDARD BATCH

The batch is Greener (Yellower), Flatter and Fuller than the Standard or in inversely:- The Standard is Redder (Bluer), Brighter and Thinner than the Batch

STANDARD BATCH

The Batch is Yellower (Greener), Brighter and Fuller than the Standard or inversely, The Standard is Redder (Bluer), Flatter and Thinner than the Batch

EXAMPLE OF A SHADE DEVELOPMENT

In the photographs below, Standard A was the designers requested shade; B was the first submitted sample and C the second one. Both B and C were not acceptable visually to the standard A

COLOUR DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENTS

The shade difference between A and B are shown as solid colours in the next section, with colour difference readings. Two colour difference equations used by Christy, CMC (2:1) and M&S 89.

Had the colour difference (DE) of 0.8 been followed by the supplier, the sample B would have been an acceptable match

A (Standard) B (Batch)

COLOUR DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENTS (CMC 2:1) Standard Sample A, Batch Sample B Illuminant Colour Difference DE, dHue dChroma dLightness The batch is D65 5.53 -2.16 4.35 -2.64 Darker, Stronger, Redder(Bluer) TL84 4.72 -0.24 4.00 -2.50 Darker, Stronger, Redder(Bluer)

Duvet at the back, pillow at the front

COLOUR DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENTS (CMC 2:1)

Standard Duvet, Batch Pillow Illuminant Colour Difference DE, dHue dChroma dLightness D65 1.04 0.37 -0.67 0.72 Lighter, Weaker, Yell (Greener)