Ciba Specialty Chemicals has acquired a French CAD software company which has developed technology for 3D visualisation of colours for substrates such as plastics and paint which is described as "unique."
Aix-en-Provence-based ColorViz SAS is a start-up company with which Ciba has been cooperating for the past two years and offers software that facilitates communications between industrial designers and specifiers and their material suppliers. The technology results in more efficient product development processes.
The acquisition will further differentiate Ciba’s colour management services and a wider range of customers, the Swiss group says.
Christophe Dauga, ColorViz SAS managing director, will remain at the head of the company and will also take a role in Ciba’s Color Services organisation.
According to Sonia Megert Marshall, who heads Color Services for Ciba Specialty Chemicals, the company became aware of the software’s potential while acting as its exclusive distributor. “That’s when we also realised that the synergies between formulation technology and Colorviz’s visualisation technology could be fully exploited only in a fuller collaboration. Now we can accelerate the development of highly innovative tools for colour design and specification.”