X-Rite launches first global Brand Experience Centre in Gurugram to boost colour management capabilities

INDIA – Colour management technology leader X-Rite has opened its first-ever Brand Experience Centre in Gurugram, marking a major strategic investment in India’s fast-growing print, packaging, and textile markets.

The facility, the company’s first anywhere in the world, is designed as a multi-purpose hub for hands-on learning, collaboration, and workflow optimization.

Jeff McKee, global president of X-Rite, said India was the natural choice for the pilot centre.

“We knew we wanted to target India for our first Brand Experience Centre because it is a high-growth market with an exciting future,” he said.

“This centre allows us to support, educate, and partner with our customers more closely than ever before.”

The new centre is structured around three zones: a collaboration area, a 50-seat classroom, and a fully equipped colour laboratory.

The collaboration zone features adjustable lighting between 5,000K and 7,000K, enabling brand owners, printers, and converters to evaluate colour under varied illumination.

An interactive display provides product insights and workflow guidance, while consultation spaces enable visiting teams to compare samples and troubleshoot issues with X-Rite specialists.

Adjacent to this is a classroom where the company plans to run open and advanced paid workshops covering colour science, calibration, digital workflows, and sustainability.

Industry-specific courses for packaging, textiles, and graphic arts will be offered, with partner firms invited to conduct joint training sessions.

The third zone, a comprehensive colour lab, will bridge theory and real-world application. Equipped with X-Rite’s full instrument suite, including spectrophotometers, digital proofers, conditioning chambers and winding machines, the lab will offer live demonstrations, sample analysis, and calibration guidance.

McKee emphasized that improved colour consistency supports both profitability and sustainability.

“We help our customers become sustainable by helping them achieve colour faster and more consistently,” he said. “That reduces scrap, whether it’s cotton, ink, paper, or dye, and saves natural resources.”

With average press runs dropping by nearly 50% over the past five years, X-Rite sees automation as essential for improving changeover time, yield, and uptime.

The company is also focusing on colour stability on recycled and mixed-material substrates, which are increasingly prevalent in sustainable packaging.

Early this month, the company acquired select assets from US-based Rutherford Graphic Products (RGP).

The transaction covers specific software and firmware components that support closed-loop press automation solutions.

While financial details remain undisclosed, the agreement builds on years of partnership between the two firms.

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