Why color matters: international Color Pigments Conference looks at the important role that color plays in a variety of industries.

COLOR IS A TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT aspect of our daily lives, and there are many challenges ahead for the pigment industry. With that in mind, the, Color Pigments Manufacturers Association's (CPMA) 2008 International Color Pigments Conference, "Color Matters--New Business and New Products in a Global Marketplace," held May 13-15, 2008 at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire, It, closely examined present and future trends for pigments. The two-day conference was sponsored jointly by CPMA and Rodman Publications, publishers of HAPPI, INK WORLD and COATINGS WORLD magazines. Aram Terzian, EMD Chemicals, Inc., and Mark Vincent, Dominion Colour, served as co-chairs and moderators.

The keynote speaker was David Hill, former president and CEO, Sun Chemical, whose topic was "Color Creates: Life, Sensation and Value."

"Color can create differentiation. But to do so requires that it be renewed," Dr. Hill said. "Innovation is a key part of the renewal process. Without renewal, color becomes commoditized."

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Monsanto and Nalco are two companies focused on innovation to avoid commoditization, according to Dr. Hill, who added that "innovation plays a key role in every example of successful business reinvention. Innovation can make a difference."

Dr. Hill was followed by Mark Geeves, Ciba Color Services, who discussed "Color Communication and Control: It is Not Just About Color Any More," an examination of the need to produce products and monitor color globally. Malcolm Denniss, QES Consulting, representing the Toy Industry Association, discussed "Assuring Toy Safety: A Systemic Approach."

Paul Czornij, BASF, closed the morning session with "Selection of Pigments for Automotive Coatings Design."

"Green chemistry is the number one area in terms of color development all over the world," said Mr. Czornij, who noted that 95% of colors designed for cars and light trucks in North America are metallics. In Europe, consumers are paying extra for premium colors, and are interested in the liquid metal look.

After lunch, Jim DeLisi, Fanwood Chemical, addressed challenges to the pigment industry, including raw material shortages, price increases and regulations. He was followed by Richard Yao, Merck Chemicals (Shanghai), who discussed "Made in China--Overview of China Export," a look at the issues and opportunities in the market. Phil Linz, EMD Chemicals, talked about "Technical Service: A Supplier's Perspective."

"Technical service is a tool that can and should be used not only to maintain current business, but can also be used to grow new business," Mr. Linz noted. "In a multinational environment, it offers resources which are necessary for and expected by multinational customers. It is arguably a central requirement of your business."

Consultant Graham Battersby followed with "Selling New Colorants and Color Effects to an Ink Maker: An Ink Company's Perspective." Dr. Battersby discussed the range of special effects and their impact on the senses. He also noted that the sales channel for effect pigments should include the package designer.

"You need to sell to people who need the effect, and find the best image and produce high quality prints if you want to maximize the effect," Dr. Battersby said. "There is a tremendous opportunity to do more with special effects in graphic arts."

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Jack Ladson, Color Science Consultancy, discussed "Industrial Color Control of Gonioapparent Colorants."

At the end of the afternoon session, CPMA hosted a special panel discussion focusing on Special Product Stewardship. The panel featured Philip Webb, BASF; Naeem Mady, Ciba Expert Services; Christopher Patterson, Clariant; Russell Schwartz, Sun Chemical, served as moderator; and Robert Kendrick, Sun Chemical.

Noting that media coverage of EH&S issues are at the highest level ever, the panel's topics ranged from REACH and eco-efficiency to chemicals and nanoparticles.

"It's easy to talk a good product stewardship game, but we need to find a mechanism to develop proper test methods and make them available," Mr. Schwartz noted.

Color and End Users

The May 15 session began with James Silver, DuPont Digital Printing, who discussed the dramatic growth of digital printing in "Evolving Ink Jet Print Head Technology--What Does it Mean for Pigment Manufacturers."

"Pigments will be the colorants of choice," Mr. Silver said, noting superior durability and bleed resistance, increasing purity levels, adoption of traditional analog printing pigments for digital and differentiation through surface and size functionality.

Mr. Silver was followed by Matthias Kuntz, Merck KGaA, who focused on "A New Interference Color Space for Coatings." Angelique Danek, Ciba Expert Services, discussed "Facing the Challenges of the Future--Ever Changing Market and Regulatory Environments, A Challenge for Pigment and Additive Suppliers."

George Iannuzzi, PPS Pigments, EMD Chemicals, discussed "Photograffiti--Lexicon for an Urban World." He was followed by Robert Trinklein, Teknor Color, who discussed "What Does the Plastic Industry Need from Pigment Manufacturers?," including the importance of consistency, innovation, access to technical people and willingness to work together.

"Our customers are driving us to tighter and tighter color tolerances as they become savvy regarding color measurement," Mr. Trinklein said. "There is a great deal that can be accomplished by two companies that genuinely consider each other's needs in the business relationship." Mr. Ladsen then discussed "Coloring of Plastics." Greg Shrider, BYK-Gardner USA, closed the conference with "New Measurement System for Characterizing the Total Color Impression of Effect Coatings."

A Strong Conference Program

Overall, CPMA officials and the conference co-chairs were pleased with the program.

"I think the program was extremely strong, and I've received positive feedback from all of our attendees," Mr. Terzian said. "The speakers this year were better than ever before, and end-users could certainly benefit from these talks, not just pigment manufacturers."

"The conference went well, and the quality of presentations seems to get better every year," Mr. Vincent said.

"The comments I have heard from our attendees are that they found the conference to be very informative," said CPMA president Larry Robinson. "The only downside was that attendance was down a bit, but from what I am told, we're doing better than most manufacturing industry seminars."

Dave Savastano

Editor Ink World