Qualitative case study methodology: Automatic design and correction of ceramic colors

This paper is focused on two major problems within the ceramics industry. The reproduction of a desired color from pigments (which is time-intensive), and the correction of colors on the production line (which is costly) are processes which still rely heavily on numerous experiments carried out by human operators. This study presents the key aspects of these two processes and suggests some mathematical and computer sciences tools, aimed at automatizing the current procedures. Data was provided by an industrial partner, where the proposed models and solutions will be tested and validated. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 05A16, Secondary 05A15,05A18,11B75.