Micro dosing technology

ALFA has developed and patented a new dispensing technology that allows to dispense micro drops of colorants with extreme accuracy and repeatability. These new pumps can dispense down to 0.0077cc (1/3840 fl oz), one tenth of the actual minimum dispensation of the most common tinting machines on the market. Moreover, the same pump scaled up, is able to dispense bases and semi-finished products. Why is this so important? Because it’s the only technology available on the market that allows to produce paint samples of 100 ml in any colour starting from empty can. Let’s see in more details why this is so important for both laboratories and points of sale.

In the laboratory

Every time a paint laboratory needs to formulate a new colour or check an existing formula, a colour sample needs to be produced in the most accurate way and it can be done mostly in two different ways:

1. Production by weight, measuring each component by hand using a scale. This allows to produce small samples and therefore to reduce the use of paints and colorants, but it is very time consuming and results can be altered by human error.
2. Production by standard dispenser, prefilling a can of base and dispensing colorants. This allows to speed up the process, but due to the low precision and minimum dispensation of standard tinting machines, it generally requires to produce samples between 500 ml and 1 litre, which results in a higher consumption of paints and colorants.

Today there is a third solution available. ALFA has launched on the market the COLOR LAB a new-generation dispenser able to dispense simultaneously bases and colorants to reproduce any tint in 100 ml pots, designed to optimize the formulation both in terms of time and costs. In fact, the Color Lab allows laboratories to save up to 90% of raw materials, compared to the standard formulation in 1 litre, saving not only on the quantity of product used, but also on waste disposal costs. It’s speed and precision makes it the best tool available on the market to improve laboratory’s activities.

• Minimum drop 0.0077cc (1/3840 fl oz)

• Formulate any color starting from 100cc

• Formulates in less than 1 min

• Dispense bases, semifinished products and colorants

• Up to16 colorants and 4 bases/semifinished

• -90% waste compared to 1 liter formulation

• Works with pre-filled and empty cans

• Extractable trays for easier cleaning

On the point of sale

Colour is the main driver for customers when deciding to paint their home, but choosing colour is also been rated as the most stressful phase in the decoration process, due to the huge number of products and colours offered. As for today, paint producers have offered different tools to help consumers making a choice:

1. Colour fan decks and colour chips can help consumers getting an idea of the colour, but they are usually too small, so when the consumer paints a whole room, it usually looks darker than what imagined.
2. Ready mix samples represent the best way to prove customers how a particular colour/product will look once applied on their walls. Unfortunately, due to production and logistics costs, ready mix samples are usually available in only 30-40 colours, giving very little choice compared to the full range of colours available.
3. Digital Apps that are able to inspire and guide the user to explore, visualize and make decisions on their own environment. However, what these Apps lack is to visualize what is digital into the physical world, as colour applied will look different from a screen.

Today there is a fourth solution available. ALFA has designed two types of dispensers that are able to produce 100 ml paint samples -enough to paint 1sq.mt. of wall- just in time, starting from empty can, allowing customers to check both colour and quality of the product before purchasing.

The COLOR TESTER is an automatic vending machine that produce paint samples in just 1 minute. This is the perfect tool to promote colour in high traffic paint stores/departments and to enter new sales channels such as shopping malls.

The THOR it’s a tinting machine with extra circuits for the bases. This unit has a footprint of only 0,5 sqm so it’s perfect for all small and medium stores where space it’s critical. Thor acts as a standard tinting machine with the extra features of producing samples just in time.