Patent ID: 8482762

Claim:
A method for approving or rejecting the color of an article, the method comprising the steps of: developing or selecting an electronic color standard for the article; developing color tolerances for the article; storing the electronic color standard and color tolerances in a central database; requesting an electronic color submission from at least one vendor; receiving the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor; analyzing the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor with software tools; comparing the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor to the electronic color standard and the color tolerances stored in the central database by comparing one or more reflectance values for the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor with one or more reflectance values for the electronic color standard stored in the central database, identifying any differences between such values, displaying any differences between the reflectance values of the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor and the electronic color standard stored in the central database, comparing the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor with the electronic color standard stored in the central database by generating a CIE a*-b* plot for the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor and the electronic color standard stored in the central database, and identifying any deviances in such a plot, and displaying the CIE a*-b* plot of the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor and the electronic color standard stored in the central database, as well as any deviances in such a plot without the use of artificial intelligence; determining an approval or rejection status of the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor based on the comparison of the electronic color submission to the electronic color standard and the color tolerances stored in the central database; preparing a response to the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor; recording the response to the electronic color submission from the at least one vendor in the central database; and electronically sending the response to the electronic color submission of the at least one vendor to the at least one vendor.