Nowadays, color matching is only carried out visually in a few companies. Measurement with a laboratory device is much more objective and reliable and can be easily integrated into existing QM structures thanks to digital data acquisition.
The Agera L2 from HunterLab enables highly accurate and repeatable measurements to be taken and displayed and compared using the desired color scales and indices. Differences are clearly displayed, and the software immediately flags any instances where specified tolerances are exceeded. Views such as spectral diagrams or 2D color diagrams also allow a quick visual assessment of the measured color values. When measuring milk and whey powder, the CIE Lab scale together with the degree of yellowness YI E313 and possibly the degree of whiteness WI E313 are meaningful.
A measurement is easy to carry out by filling the powder into a glass cuvette, positioning it on the measuring aperture and triggering the measuring flash with a simple push of a button. With the appropriate setting, a photo of the measuring surface as “seen” from below by the sensor can be taken and saved for documentation purposes.
The measurement data is either stored in the device using the EasyMatch Essentials firmware and can be easily exported as needed, or you can connect the device to a PC and use the EasyMatchQC software, which provides a clearer display and analysis of the data. The simple ASCII export, for example, is a practical tool for quality control in particular.
No matter what application you’re producing milk and whey powder for—the Agera L2 from HunterLab provides the ideal solution for monitoring and tracking the production process using colorimetry. This gives your customers and buyers a consistent product in terms of color, they develop confidence in the quality of your products and remain loyal to you.