SDC enterprises: setting the standard worldwide

Citation

(2005), "SDC enterprises: setting the standard worldwide", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 34 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2005.12934dab.020

SDC enterprises: setting the standard worldwide

SDC enterprises: setting the standard worldwide

SDC Enterprises Ltd, the trading company established by the Society of Dyers and Colourists in July 2002 to sell colour fastness testing products worldwide has proved to be a resounding global success story with established sales now in over 50 countries. Strict adherence to the ISO 9001:2000 quality standards ensures that customers receive products of consistent quality, year in, year out.

The SDC has long been a pioneer in the field of colour fastness testing since the early 1900s. To take but two examples, the SDC established the Society's Blue Wool Standards (Plate 1) for the assessment of colour fastness to light as long ago as 1939, and by 1941 these were incorporated into British Standards by the British Standards Institution (BSI). Today these are still used throughout the colouration industries for the assessment of colour fastness to light.

Plate 1 Blue Wool Standards for the assessment of colour fastness to light

A second outstanding example of the SDC meeting consumers' needs and requirements was the work leading to the introduction of a multifibre test fabric in 1968 (JSDC, 1968). After further round-robin testing by the colouration industry through the SDC's Fastness Tests Co-ordinating Committee the SDC Multifibre Test Fabric was launched in July 1972 (Skelly and Holme, 1972). This proved to be so highly successful that it became an industry standard that was widely accepted as the adjacent fabric to be used in wash fastness testing. Further developments in line with International Standards Organisation (ISO) criteria in 1986 led to the introduction of the SDC Multifibre DW Fabric (Plate 2), the standard against which all other products must be judged.

Plate 2 SDC Multifibre DW fabric

To date almost 3,000 individual tests have been carried out to ensure the consistency of performance of SDC Multifibre DW fabric. This insistence on strict quality standards by SDC Enterprises has paid dividends, for the test records prove that SDC Multifibre DW Fabric continues to demonstrate an excellent degree of consistent quality in colour fastness testing, giving credence to the test results.

SDC Enterprises web site is at www.sdcenterprises.co.uk

Further readingBeal, W (1987), JSDC, Vol. 103 Nos 5/ 6, p. 177.