News
Labs in CSITC Round Trials Show Steady Improvement, Set All-Time Record in 2019
For Immediate Release
Date Posted: 6 January 2020
Executive Summary
In 2019, laboratories in the CSITC Round Trials:
- Achieved their best annual Overall Evaluation Results (OER) average ever at 0.35
- This means there was a 35% reduction in interlaboratory variation between all tested instruments in 2019 compared to 2010
- Produced the all-time best quarterly result ever in the third quarter at 0.318
- Finished the decade by showing significant improvement, with the 2010 average OER of 0.54 dropping to 0.35 by the end of 2019
- Demonstrated that participating laboratories improved their performance in all fibre property categories
Labs in CSITC Round Trials Show Steady Improvement, Set All-Time Record in 2019
For the ICAC's Task Force on Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC), 2019 was not only a very good year — it also capped off a very successful decade. As a whole, the laboratories that participated in CSITC Round Trials (RTs) achieved their goals of reducing variation and ensuring their instruments are producing accurate and consistent results.
In 2019, there were a total of 90 registered CSITC labs, with 65 to 75 participating labs and 100 to 130 instruments evaluated in each of the quarterly 2019 RTs (due to seasonal participation). Those numbers have remained fairly consistent since 2011. The annual OER of 0.350 in 2019 is the lowest yearly average ever, and the third-quarter OER of 0.318 was the best quarterly result ever posted.
While the past year clearly produced excellent results, the success of the RTs throughout the last decade is easy to see. Since 2010, participating labs have seen reductions in variation for all measured properties:
- Micronaire: 32%
- Strength: 32%
- Length UHML: 28%
- Length Uniformity: 30%
- Colour Reflectance: 63%
- Colour Yellowness: 38%
In addition, as the chart below illustrates, the median OER has improved significantly over the last decade, dropping from 0.54 in 2010 to 0.35 in 2019.
About the CSITC Round Trials
Conducted quarterly since 2007, CSITC RTs are conducted via cooperation among ICAC (managing participants), Bremen Fibre Institute (organisation and evaluation), and USDA (sample provisions and dispatch). The goal is to help labs to reduce their deviation with equipment from other laboratories, which will help limit the number of costly claims suffered by both buyers and sellers.
Companies that are interested in learning more or want to participate in the 2020 RTs should contact ICAC Executive Assistant Yana Pomerants at yana@icac.org. To learn more about CSITC, please click one of the links below.
General information: www.csitc.org or www.icac.org
What Are CSITC Round Trials: Click here
Brochure on ‘What You Need to Know about CSITC RTs’: Click here
Brochure on ‘How RTs Benefit Spinners’: bit.ly/2QvXJhD
Brochure on ‘How RTs Benefit Traders’: bit.ly/2QUD6L2
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About the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries. It acts as a catalyst for change by helping member countries maintain a healthy world cotton economy; provides transparency to the world cotton market by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production; and serves as a forum for discussing cotton issues of international significance. The ICAC does not have a role in setting market prices or in intervening in market mechanisms. For more information, please visit www.icac.org.