Our daily operations lay basis on services with high quality. The best guarantee for reliable results provided for the academic and industrial partners are high-quality research and practices.
Our quality assurance protocols are evaluated with a given schedule as defined by the university. The evaluation is carried out by auditors from the university as well as from the external organizations. Specific services can be evaluated by companies.
Person-in-chief: Research Manager Arto Koistinen.
Our customers
Cases
Our customers include for example Exel, Nokia, Moventas, Tulikivi, Samsung, Creation, Kemira, Denso, CSP Color, UPM, Specim, MGM-Devices, Perlos, Joensuu Science Park, Ironworks, Forecluster, Metso Paper, KCL, M-Real, Nanocomp, UiO - University of Oslo and Kuopio Neurosurgery.
Read more below about our cases.
Development of a Color Simulation and Quality Management System for Plastic Composite Products
Exel PLC was in need of a reliable system that can be integrated into the company’s quality management system to monitor the color of plastic composite products and to improve the predictability of the colors produced. None of the commercially available systems were able to meet Exel PLC’s demands.
In the first stage of the project, the InFotonics Center Joensuu conducted a preliminary analysis of the possibilities for creating a color management system and designed a system concept. The next stage of the project saw the implementation of the system and its delivery on a turnkey basis. The system combines a commercial spectral measurement device and a piece of software developed by the InFotonics Center Joensuu. Depending on the application needs, the system can be used for color simulation and quality management purposes alike.
In color simulation, the system can be used to calculate the color obtained using certain raw materials or the raw materials needed to produce a certain color. In product quality management, a user measures the color of an object and the system tells whether or not the color is acceptable by comparing the result to predefined color requirements.
The system developed for Exel PLC enables the company to reliably monitor the quality of its plastic composite products both in real time and in the long run. The simulation of product colors, in turn, can be used to significantly reduce the number of expensive trial runs and to diminish the resulting raw material loss. Moreover, the system will facilitate the communication between the employees of Exel PLC and its customers.
"The system developed by the InFotonics Center Joensuu has enabled us not only to carry out quality management, but also to pin down the reasons behind variation in the quality of colors. This speeds up problem-solving and diminishes the amount of production loss in problem situations. Color simulation has proven to be an efficient way of coming very close to a new, sought-after color shade without performing trial runs. The tool is especially efficient in giving immediate feedback on how adding a certain raw material will affect the color of the end product", says factory manager Jari Koskinen of the Exel Kivara factory.
Exel PLC designs, manufactures and markets composite profiles for industrial applications. For more information on the company, see: www.exelcomposites.com.
Defining the Color Reproduction Capability of Printing Inks
Printing house PunaMusta Ltd. wanted to determine the color reproduction capability of the printing inks it had taken into use, because the color shades in images produced in trial runs were not what the company had expected. Color reproduction capability refers to the number of different color shades that can be produced with printing inks. Moreover, PunaMusta Ltd. was keen to know how illumination would affect the color of the prints.
The InFotonics Center Joensuu carried out a spectral measurement of the company’s test color chart and conducted a computational analysis of the measurement data. The InFotonics Center Joensuu also defined the number of color shades possible to produce with the printing inks and determined how different illumination affects the quality of color reproduction.
Determining the color reproduction capability of printing inks will help PunaMusta Ltd. to improve the color management of its prints and it also provides accurate information on the obtainable image quality.
Research Collaboration with the InFotonics Center Joensuu: PunaMusta Ltd. is part of the Pohjois-Karjalan Kirjapaino concern’s printing division, with products ranging from various newspapers, magazines and brochures to direct marketing materials. For more information on the company, see: www.punamusta.com.
Defining the Optical Hiding Power of Printing Papers and Printing Inks
KCL needed a system that can be used to assess the optical hiding power of colored printing papers and printing inks. Colored prints did not have a measurement standard that would define the optical hiding power of printing papers and printing inks sufficiently well. Optical hiding power refers to the opacity of paper, which is a significant factor when printing text or images on both sides of the paper.
To define the optical hiding power of colored prints, the InFotonics Center Joensuu developed a system which combines a commercial color scanner with a piece of software that utilizes a completely new computational method. The system makes it possible to define the number of different colors that can be printed on different papers without them showing through and disturbing the reader. The work involved, among other things, visual tests in which test subjects were asked to assess how different colored papers and printing inks affect the optical hiding power.
KCL utilizes the system in its R&D activities for defining the optical hiding power of colored prints.
Research Collaboration with the InFotonics Center Joensuu: KCL serves the global paper and forest cluster industries as well as the end-users of paper and board products. For more information on the company, see: www.kcl.fi.
Calibration of a Spectral Measurement Device
Moventas Wind Ltd. needed information on the real measuring accuracy of a spectral measurement device the company had acquired to monitor the color quality of its products.
The InFotonics Center Joensuu calibrated the spectral measurement device in question by using as reference its own, narrowly defined ceramic color standards. The InFotonics Center Joensuu also defined the device’s measurement repeatability on the basis of samples provided by Moventas Wind Ltd. The results of the calibration were reported to Moventas Wind Ltd. in writing.
"The collaboration with the InFotonics Center Joensuu was smooth and quick. The calibration report delivered to us was both clear and competently written. We also gained useful information about spectral measurements, which can be applied to the color quality management of our products", says inspector Martti P. Nurminen of Moventas Wind Ltd.
Research Collaboration with the InFotonics Center Joensuu: Moventas Wind Ltd. manufactures and markets wind turbine gears and mechanical drives for the process industries. For more information on the company, see: www.moventas.com.
Enhancing the Color Reproduction of Soapstone Tile Images
Tulikivi PLC was facing the challenge of reproducing the color shades of soapstone tile images as naturally as possible on display equipment in the company’s auditorium. The company uses the auditorium for personnel trainings and presentations of its product range. The lighting and the data projector used in the auditorium did not, however, succeed in reproducing the product images in sufficiently high quality.
The soapstone tiles were spectrally imaged and the data projector’s color reproduction was characterized using color measurement and computational methods developed by the InFotonics Center Joensuu. This enabled the product images to be reproduced in their natural shades.
With the image on the display equipment now closer to reality, Tulikivi PLC is better able to train its personnel to carry out quality management. Furthermore, the new color reproduction method makes it easier for Tulikivi PLC to present the product range for its customers.
Research collaboration with the InFotonics Center Joensuu: Tulikivi PLC, a member of the Tulikivi Group, manufactures heat-retaining fireplaces and natural stone products. For more information on the company, see: www.tulikivi.com.
