Standards Subscription Renewals for 2014

Renewal notices have gone out to all current Technidyne standards subscription customers for 2014.

Sign up for multi-year subscriptions and save.

You may order up to a two-year subscription based on the 2014 pricing in order to avoid future price increases.

Save on subscription costs by paying early.

If you pay for your subscription by December 1, 2013, you will receive a special discount. Payment must be made on or before December 1^st in order to receive this discount.

We will accept payment via Mastercard, Visa and American Express. To place an order by phone, just call Kim Bates at (812) 948-2884 ext. 127 or you may contact your local Technidyne Sales or Technical Service Representative. 

For other questions, email our Service Department.

Precision vs. Accuracy

It is useful to understand the meaning of the terms “precision and accuracy” when relating to measurement instrumentation. Precision relates to the ability of an instrument to very closely repeat measurements time after time. The term “accuracy” relates to the ability of an instrument to measure values which are very close to the correct value as determined by an industry accepted standard or authority. As can be seen from the image above, instruments can have any of four combinations of precision and accuracy: 

a) the upper left hand target depicts an instrument which has both low precision (poor reproducibility) and low accuracy (agrees poorly with the correct value); 

b) the lower left hand target depicts an instrument which has excellent repeatability but for which all of its measurements are in error by approximately the same amount; 

c) the upper right hand target depicts an instrument which exhibits poor repeatability, but the average of its measurements is very close to the correct value; and 

d) the lower right hand target depicts an instrument which is very repeatable and for which the average of its readings agrees closely to the correct value.

This clarification of terms is often helpful when communicating with coworkers or customers when discussing data.

Technidyne Wins 2013 Global/International Award

I just returned from the 2013 GLI Inc.credible Awards luncheon. Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) is the chamber of commerce for the Louisville, KY area.  Technidyne was selected as the winner in the Global/International company category for 2013. The announcement is here on the GLI Website.

Chairman, Jerry Popson, and CEO, Todd Popson, accept the award

The annual awards program is intended to recognize small businesses (up to 100 employees) that are spurring growth in the Louisville area.  Technidyne was chosen as a finalist out of 1200 local companies.  In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013, we had approximately 55% of our revenue generated by importing (reselling foreign products in the US) or exporting (selling our products internationally).

I am very proud of our Technidyne Family and what we have achieved over our 39 years.  Just being a finalist for such an award is recognition of that. Winning the award is even sweeter!

If you don't know about Technidyne visit our website.

Roll Hardness Measurement Blitzes US

Since Technidyne has been selling the Tapio RQP (roll hardness) measurement device, customers in the US have been lining up to take on this new technology.

Predicting roll runnability and ranking rolls are just a few of the uses that have shown near immediate return on investment.  With over 120 users worldwide, here are some US companies that have purchased the Tapio RQP

3M, Decatur, AL (2)

3M, Greenville, SC

Appleton Coated, Combined Locks, WI

Boise, Wallula, WA (2)

Bowater Catawba, SC

Dupont Teijin Films, Chester, VA

Dupont Teijin Films, Richmond, VA

E. I. Dupont, Buffalo, NY

Futuremark Paper, Alsip, IL (2)

Futuremark Paper, Manistique, MI

Glatfelter, Chillicothe, OH

Glatfelter, Spring Grove, PA

JW Aluminum Company, St. Louis, MO

Metso Paper, Appleton, WI

Mitsubishi Polyester Film, Greer, SC

NewPage, Escanaba, MI

NewPage, Wisconsin Rapids, WI (6)

Packaging Corporation of America, Valdosta, GA

PPG Industries, Barberton, OH

for more information check the Technidyne website and Tapio RQP website.

What is Light Scattering?

Light scattering is when light rays undergo multiple reflection and refraction from fibers (and/or fillers & pigments).  Increased light scattering increases brightness in the paper making process.

As discussed in a previous post, the most important of the four things that can happen when light strikes paper, with regard to brightness, is scattering. To understand the phenomenon of scattering, first let us consider the example of a bowl of large glass beads. The colorless and transparent beads easily allow light to pass through them; therefore, the beads appear clear. If we begin to crush the beads with a hammer until they form glass chips, many additional surfaces are formed from which light rays can reflect. Therefore, the bowl of glass chips will appear to be less clear and begin to take on a whitish appearance. As we continue to crush the chips of glass with a hammer into fine glass powder, we will note that the appearance has changed from semi-clear to white. By crushing the glass into powder, we have formed an extremely large number of reflecting surfaces such that each light ray entering the mass of powder will reflect off many particle surfaces before the light ray emerges. In addition to the reflection from each particle surface, a bending of the light ray will occur whenever the light ray goes from air into a glass particle which has a greater density than the air. The light ray will bend again when it emerges from the particle of glass back into the less dense air. This bending of a light ray each time it passes through a glass particle is known as “refraction”.

The combination of multiple reflection and refraction as described above is known as light scatter. The interaction of light with cellulosic fibers in paper is very similar to the example of the glass powder as described previously. Cellulosic fibers are essentially colorless and a cross-section of paper can be thought of as a mass of intertwined cellulosic fibers. Each time light strikes a cellulosic fiber, some rays will specularly reflect from the surface of the fiber and other rays will pass through the nearly transparent fiber, being refracted (bent) as they pass through. After the direction of the light ray has been changed by one fiber it will then encounter another fiber and its direction will be changed again. The numerous direction changes cause by multiple reflection and refraction inside the mass of cellulosic fibers results in light rays being scattered in all directions. In sufficient amounts of all wavelengths of light are scattered back in the direction of the viewer, the sheet will appear to be white. This is why refining (breaking the fibers into more small pieces) and additions of pigment/fillers (more surfaces) are used; they increase scattering and, therefore, brightness.

Technidyne Employee Retires after 39 Years

Joyce Harris, Finance & Human Resources Manager, is retiring from Technidyne after nearly 39 years of dedicated service to the company.  Joyce started with Technidyne shortly after its inception in 1974. She had worked with founder, Jerry Popson, at a previous employer.  Joyce evolved as the company evolved from basic bookkeeping, answering phone, typing letters and other clerical work to manage the Finance and Human Resource parts of the business.

She was a tireless worker and great 'team player.'  Joyce was a model in some of Technidyne's instrument literature. She organized countless business and personal celebrations for Technidyne.

Joyce was a key player in creating the culture of Technidyne now known as our DNA:

Technidyne's passion for customer satisfaction drives us to be the best in the world at developing economical and creative solutions.

Joyce on the Total Reflectometer Brochure in the 1970's.

Joyce will be missed by coworkers, customers and vendors. She is planning on spending time with her two grandchildren and traveling the country in the trailer her husband, Jim, recently purchased upon his retirement.

We wish Joyce and Jim the best in their retirement and pray for their continued health and happiness.

Technidyne Turns 39

Wednesday, we  had a luncheon to celebrate Technidyne's 39 years in business. Most of our remote employees were able to make it in to New Albany, Indiana to celebrate this event with all of our current and retired employees.

Founder/Chairman Jerry Popson reminisced with some stories of old. I was able to give a FY 12-13 recap and provide some statistics about where we stand as a company.

It's always great to see so many of the people that helped make Technidyne what it is today.



Technidyne:

• 39 years in business
• Sold products into approximately 60 countries
• Sold over 5,500 instruments

The Physics of Light

It is important before measuring different optical properties of paper to understand the interaction of light  with paper and how this interaction affects what we see.

The image above illustrates the behavior of light striking paper. When a ray of light strikes a sheet of paper, four possible results can occur, namely: reflection, transmission, scattering and absorption.  

REFLECTION - Surface (specular gloss) reflection occurs where the angle of viewing equals the angle of incidence. 

TRANSMISSION - Light passes through the sheet and is lost, thereby reducing brightness.

SCATTERING - Light rays undergo multiple reflection and refraction from fibers causing an increase in brightness.

ABSORPTION - Light strikes colored matter and is absorbed and converted to heat thereby reducing brightness.

 A future post will discuss in more detail the aspects of scattering; refraction and (non-specular) reflection.

Technidyne Award Finalist

I just returned from a breakfast honoring all the finalists for the 2013 GLI Inc.credible awards. Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) is the chamber of commerce for the Louisville, KY area.  Technidyne is a finalist in the Global/International company category.

It is humbling to see all the people that have work at and built small companies.  Some of these companies are still very small (less than 10 people) and others have grown and are just below the 100 employee mark.  Some of the companies are only a few years old, and one company is celebrating its 150 year anniversary.  From wine, healthcare, shooting ranges to marketing, engineering and insurance, these companies prove that America is a great land of opportunity and success, if you are willing to take a risk and work hard.

I am very proud of our Technidyne Family and what we have achieved over our 39 years.  Just being a finalist for such an award is recognition of that.

If you don't know about Technidyne visit our website.

PaperCon is the Biggest Conference in North America

Monday, I was just on a conference call planning PaperCon '14.  TAPPI started PaperCon about 6 years ago, and it has quickly grown to be the biggest paper conference in North America.

Technidyne will be presenting new technology and services at PaperCon '14. Make plans to see us there.

Upcoming PaperCon locations:

• 2014 - Nashville, TN
• 2015 - Atlanta, GA
• 2016 - Cincinnati, OH
• 2017 - Minneapolis, MN (likely)

Density vs. Reflectance Measurement (Part 2)

In a continuation from the previous article, other differences between reflection densitometers and reflectometers are as follows:

2) Spectral response - most colorimeters closely match the spectral response of the standard human observer. Densitometers do not.  Densitometers are not intended to see color in the same way that is viewed by the human observer, but rather they are intended to relate to the tinting strength of individual inks relative to a control ink strength.

3) Area of measurement - densitometers measure small areas, typically 1-6 mm diameter. Most reflectometers measure larger areas typically 6-50 mm diameter.

4) Shade discrimination - good quality reflectometers have the ability to discriminate between shade differences better than the human eye throughout the entire reflectance range of 0 - 100%.  Typical densitometers, with their logarithmic scale, do not become equivalent to the human eye in its ability to discriminate shade differences unless the shade has a reflectance of less than 30% (density = 0.5).  The densitometer has better shade discrimination capability for very dark shades with reflectance of less than 5%.

When the densitometer is used for its originally intended purpose of determining the amount or strength of individual colorants, it does an excellent job.  The densitometer user should resist the temptation to use it as a general purpose brightness, opacity or color tester as it is unsuitable for these measurements.

If you have other questions on the topic contact me at toddp@technidyne.com.

Cascades Receives Gold Honors

Cascades said its Cascades® Antibacterial paper towel received Gold honors – the highest available – in the Edison Awards Consumer Packaged Goods: Cleaning Solutions category. The award, named after Thomas Edison, was bestowed on Cascades through an international judging panel of more than 3,000 business executives, academics and leaders in the fields of product development, design, engineering, science and medicine. The novel paper towel was launched in October 2012 in the North American market as a simple, safe and effective way to reduce bacterial contamination and transmission. Dry to the touch, the green-colored product has been confirmed in third-party testing to kill over 99.99% of harmful bacteria on coming into contact with wet hands.

This news item was reprinted courtesy of Paper Industry Magazine.