With increasing demands for color equity across ever wider geographies and packaging substrates, it is essential that every provider from brand owner specifier, to print and packaging supplier, contribute to establish a consistent and robust colour communication workflow.

Flint Group’s Paper & Board business has entered into a new partnership with X-Rite, a leader in color science and technology to deliver a color solution that leverages the X-Rite eXact and NetProfiler to reliably meet the color management needs of each stakeholder in the package print value and supply chain.

VIVO Color Solutions is a dynamic color communication and service platform supported by Flint Group’s centralized color service provider, the Global Colour Centre (GCC). VIVO ColourCloud utilizes the eXact device to provide a central web-based self-service digital colour repository, containing thousands of approved and tested colours. Customers benefit from the ability to easily search and download CxF files, DigiSwatches, and ink recipes.

Ray Cheydleur, Printing and Imaging Product Portfolio Manager for X-Rite, comments, “This partnership will benefit Flint Group’s customer base of printers around the world.  Utilising X-Rite’s NetProfiler software for verifying device performance, along with the award-winning eXact handheld spectrophotometer, will provide ultimate agreement of measured colours amongst Flint Group and their printing and converter clientele.  When paired with VIVO Colour Solutions, this technology will provide the basis for converter confidence in their ink supply, and a competitive advantage to deliver consistent colour packaging.”

Stuart Duffy, Flint Group Director, Professional Services Paper & Board says, “We are excited to have reached agreement on this unique partnership with X-Rite, the leader in colour measurement equipment.”

Duffy goes on to say, “Following rigorous beta testing at a number of corrugated sites, our initial expectations have been surpassed.  The sites conducted hundreds of searches from VIVO ColourCloud with every download achieving 100% ‘Right First Time.’ This level of performance can only be delivered through a consistent and managed digital workflow along with the support of X-Rite’s eXact spectrophotometer.  This results in an effective end-to-end colour management process that fits the needs of prepress, printing, and packaging companies of all sizes while reducing variability and improving efficiencies.  I have no doubt VIVO Colour Solutions, in combination with X-Rite equipment, can become an industry benchmark.”