How X-Rite helps printers turn colour into a competitive advantage

Label and packaging printers are under increasing pressure to produce more jobs, in shorter runs, with tighter margins and less room for error. At the same time, skilled operators are harder to find, customers expect greater consistency and traceability, and the need to reduce waste continues to grow. X-Rite discusses the importance of colour in this Spotlight.

In this environment, colour is more than a visual requirement. It can directly influence productivity, material use, customer satisfaction, and profitability. A press that takes too long to reach colour can consume valuable time, ink, and substrate, while inconsistent measurement data can lead operators to make unnecessary adjustments. Colour issues discovered late can result in rework, rejected jobs, or missed delivery expectations. These challenges become even more costly when prepress, ink kitchen, pressroom, and quality teams rely on disconnected information. Without a consistent view of colour across the workflow, inefficiencies can multiply and impact profitability.

X-Rite helps printers improve colour performance across the production workflow by looking at colour as part of the larger production workflow. Rather than focusing on a single device, department, or process step, X-Rite Colour Experts evaluate how colour data moves through an operation, where variability enters the process, and where targeted improvements can deliver the greatest operational and financial value.

This process helps printers build a practical roadmap for improvement, from identifying bottlenecks to implementing process changes, training teams, and measuring progress against agreed KPIs.

From there, we focus on three core areas:

Data Integrity

Reliable data is the foundation for better decisions. When instruments, presses, sites, or partners measure and interpret colour differently, operators can end up chasing a moving target. X-Rite helps align colour and process data across the workflow to improve repeatability, reduce unnecessary corrections, and keep teams working toward the same result.

Process Intelligence

Trusted data becomes more valuable when operators can act on it. Combining colour measurement with real-time analytics gives press operators clear visual feedback on how close they are to target and where corrections are needed. This helps operators of all skill levels reach colour faster with less trial and error. Reporting also gives quality teams and managers visibility across jobs, presses, and facilities, helping them identify trends and recurring sources of variability and waste.

Workflow Connectivity

X-Rite connects colour and quality processes across design, prepress, ink formulation, production, quality control, and reporting. Teams can work from consistent information, reduce manual handoffs and make better-informed decisions. Colour and quality data can also be shared more easily with brand owners, suppliers, and other partners, creating a digital foundation for greater automation and efficiency.

Every printer is different, so there is no single roadmap for improvement. X-Rite combines workflow, process maturity, and economic findings to identify the right priorities for each operation.  Support is implemented next, along with training and coaching, with progress measured against agreed KPI’s.

Better colour processes do more than improve colour accuracy. They help printers reduce waste and rework, improve productivity and consistency, strengthen profitability, and deliver greater confidence to customers. With the right data, process insight, and workflow connectivity in place, colour becomes more than a production requirement. It becomes a competitive advantage.

Talk with an X-Rite Colour Expert to identify where colour may be costing your operation time and money, and where targeted improvements can have the greatest impact.

This content was sponsored by X-Rite.