Baby Diapers_ Cost Economics, Marketing Potential _ Nonwovens & Technical Te

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ

Baby diapers: Cost Cost econom ics, marketing potential Among the disposables markets, the diaper market is still in its infancy in India, say

B S P a n c h o l i   and D r S R N a i k  ,

who

give an overview of its market potential, raw material details, manufacturing technologies, properties required and project economics. Disposable diaper is made of an absorbent pad sandwiched between two sheets of fabric. The function function of the pad is to absorb and retain body fluids, and the non-woven fabric gives the diaper a comfortable comfortable shape and helps to prevent prevent leakage. leakage. The diapers are are made by a multi-step process process in which first the absorbent pad is made which is then attached to a permeable top sheet and impermeable impermeable bottom sheet. sheet. The other accessories accessories are then sealed together together by application application of  heat or ultrasonic vibrations. Emerging market potential - Global and Indian About absorbent hygiene products

Today,

the

global

market

for

absorbent

hygiene

products products is over US $50 bn (inclusive (inclusive of wipes). The evolution of hygiene products in Europe and the North America has taken 4-5 generations: - Feminine care was introduced over 100 years ago. - Baby diapers were were invented 60 years ago. - Adult incontinence products appeared 30 years ago. In India, the evolution is expected to move faster. Global Global market potential Consumption Consumption of hygiene hygiene products per capita - Year 2005 is shown at a glance glance in Table 1. Table 1. Consumption Consumption of hygiene products per capita - Y ear 2005.

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１，２９３

１，５ ３３

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１２８．１

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５，３ ４９

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Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ

The global market for disposable diapers is $ 20 billion annually (2001). The diaper industry accounted for approximately 80% of the North American cover stock consumption according to

EDANA

(1997). According to

EDANA, the

West European market for

disposable baby products is around 16 billion pieces (2001). The diaper market is mature in developed areas such as North America, Western Europe and Japan, while market penetration in other areas is limited. Indian baby diaper market The Indian market for baby diapers is around Rs 70 crore per annum. Some 24 million babies are born in India every year. If we typically calculate that 25% of these infants in the period between birth and 24 months use at least 28 diapers a week, the theoretically available market for diapers is 8.7 billion pieces per year. It is estimated that the diaper market would grow at a rate of around 5 - 10%. The market estimate of baby diapers and nonwoven requirement is given in Table 2. Table 2.

Baby diapers demand Year

Qty (mn pcs)

2001-02 53.85 200361.65 04(Estimated) 200780.81 08(Projected)

Non-woven demand

Value Qty Value (Rs.Cr.) (tonnes) (Rs.Cr.) 70.00

161.55

1.78

80.14

184.95

2.03

105.05

242.43

2.67

Diaper acceptance criteria There is no Indian Standards (BIS) specification for the manufacturing of disposable baby diapers. The average diaper is comprised of 43% of fluff pulp, 27% super absorbent polymer, 15 to 23% polypropylene/polyethylene, 5% adhesive and about 1% elastic. The nonwoven fabric required is of 20-25 gsm.

１．

Diapers shall have high degree of softness.

２．

High absorbency while creating little or no irritation to the skin. Diapers shall absorb 30-60 gm wine without feeling wet. The desired rate of absorption should be very fast, ie, within 5 to 7 seconds it should absorb.

３．

No leakage.

４．

No re- wetting and skin irritation.

５．

Comfortable and good fit.

６．

Environment friendly disposable.

７．

They shall be made of clean, bacteria-free and highly absorbent cotton lap, cellulose pulp & tissue paper and both

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ should not have an unpleasant odour when wet or dry.

８．

Easy to use.

Function of baby diapers

１．

Absorb body fluid.

２．

Retain body fluid inside the absorbent core.

３．

Isolate wetness from the baby's skin.

４．

Isolate other excretion from baby's environment (clothes, bed, etc).

Details of raw materials and diaper structure Surgical cotton rolls or cellulosefluff pulp & super-absorbent polymer* For preparation of absorbent core. Web lint tissue paper/spunlace non- woven The coverstock or top sheet layer for wrapping the cotton lap cellulose fluff pulp in lint tissue paper or non-woven spunlace and pasting. Polystyrene sheet/spunbond non-woven (polyethylene or polypropylene base) Boarding the empanelled polystyrene/ poly-ethylene/polypropylene sheet with lint tissue papered cotton lap. Elastic tapes, waist band or hot melt adhesive and fastening tapes, frontal tapes, pre-laminated tapes, leg elastic, etc. Empanelment of polystyrene piece with lint tissue papered cotton lap on the length side of sheet for empanelment. Hot melt adhesive and fastening tapes are also used to make the product complete. Many cross linked polymers have been proposed for this use, eg, carbox ymethyl cellulose, hydrolysed polyacrylonitrilegrafted starch, co-polymers of malic and acrylic acids, and partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide. A baby diaper is constructed by sandwiching a finely laid piece of cotton lap with or without absorbent polymer or cellulose fluff pulp and super absorbent polymer in between a lint tissue paper or nonwoven spunbond material as cover stock or top sheet and a fine quality polystyrene/polyethylene or spunbond non-woven fabric sheet as back sheet. All the four sides of  this item are stitched in such a way that cotton or cellulose fluff pulp do not curl and collect together after wrapping the baby. The lint tissue paper or nonwoven spunbond fabric portion touches the body of the baby and the liquids are absorbed by cellulose fluff pulp or cotton through the lint tissue paper. Its usual dimension are: length 10.5", width 3.25", thickness 3/8" and weight 13.5 g. Elastic tapes or panels or hot melt adhesive and fastening tapes are drawn on the length sides to keep it close contact with body of baby which does not allow the liquids to penetrate out from either sides. Diaper structure Process of manufacture of baby diapers A baby diaper is manufactured by employing the sequence of operations given as below: 1. Preparation of cotton lap/ cellulose pad The first and most important operation for the manufacture of a baby diaper is the preparation of cotton lap of width 3.25", length 10.5" weight, 13.5 g. The surgical cotton is to be fed to mini scutcher to get the cotton lap of desired specifications as

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ the thickness and size of surgical cotton in the market rolls is not suitable for this product. Alternatively, cellulose pulp is pulverised, mixed with SAP and pads are formed and are then compressed. The main raw material is cellulose pulp in rolls. The fluffing system is obtained through a hammer mill inside an anomic cabin, which reduces the noise. The entry of the pulp rolls is regulated by a speed variator so does the weight. A super-absorbent powder is applied at this stage on the fluffed pulp. 2. Wrapping the cotton lap in lint tissue paper and pastings The well prepared cotton lap or compression cellulose pad is fed to the automatic diaper making machine whose first operation is that it wraps the cotton lap sheet in the lint tissue paper in a way that it covers the bottom side completely and the front side remains partially opened except the margins of about 1.5" when the lint tissue paper is stitched to it by applying a little adhesive. Figure 5. Tape Applicator 3. Cutting the lint tissue papered cotton lap required size say 10.5" In this process the continuous length of surgical cotton upon which lint tissue paper is wrapped and pasted at borders is cut into pieces of required size; in this case it is 10.5" each. 4. Cutting the pieces of polystyrene sheet or polyethylene sheet or spunbond nonw oven Roll of polystyrene sheet is fed to the cutting unit or the machine. On this unit, the polystyrene sheet is cut into pieces of  size as per requirements and in this case it is 15" x 9". The cut pieces are accumulated together and supplied intermittently to the next process. 5. Encannelment of elastic strip on the length sides of sheet On this machine, each cut piece of polystyrene sheet's both long sides are rolled a little and thermo-set by making a sort of  grosses overfeed and channel. While thermo sealing, an elastic strip is placed in the fold so that elastic is encanneled and the ends are held or stitched at the ends. Figure 6. Diaper Folding Machine 6. Bonding the elastic empanelled polystyrene piece or polyethylene piece or spunbond nonwoven piece with the lint tissue papered cotton lap This is a very important process in the manufacture of baby diapers. In this process, the polystyrene piece or polyethylene piece or spun bond non- woven piece is held in the frame. A little adhesive is applied on the borders and on it the lint tissue papered cotton lap piece is placed and all the four sides of polystyrene are folded and pressed (two opposite sides at a time). This way semi-finished baby diaper is manufactured. 7. Finishing In this process, applicators are used according to the type and quality of the diapers desired applying the frontal tapes and then the elastic band. Adhesive labels type Velcro are applied in order to fix the waist line of the diaper. A sealing system seals the ends of the diaper after the final cut. The finished diapers are the conveyed to a transversal final folding group, which has the capacity to half fold or three-fold the diapers by means of belts and cams. 8. Packing An automatic counter and packer unit is receiving the finished folded product, and discharges stacks of diapers pre-counted in a funnel where the operator has to insert a polybag or cardboard box for final packing.

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ

Flow chart for diaper manufacturing Major converting plant & machinery equipment for diaper production

Raw material unwinder.

Pulp grinder.

Fluff drum forming system.

Fluff processing.

Super absorbent polymer applicator.

Fluted elastic waist band applicator

Fluff leg cuff applicator.

Hot melt glue applicator.

Tape detector.

Compressing unit.

Poly-cutting system.

Stacker unit.

Mini scuteher. Automatic diaper making machine manufacturer

１．

M/s M D Viola, Italy.

２．

M/s Diatec Srl, Italy.

３．

M/s BHT Bicma, Germany.

４．

M/s Caldiroli, Italy.

５．

M/s Fameccanica, Italy.

Raw material supplier

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ

１．

Unimin India Ltd, Village Kadayia, Daman Industrial Estate, Near Daman 396 210.

２．

Fibre Web, Behind Unimin India Ltd, Village Kadayia, Daman Industrial Estate, Near Daman 396 210.

３．

Brisk Surgicals Cotton Ltd 62, GIDC Estate, Kalol 382 725, Dist.Gandhinagar. Tel: (Off) 02764-227888, (Res) 02764224994. E-mail:[email protected]

４．

Ruby Surgicals & Allied Products (P) Ltd A -43, 44, MIDC Area, Ajanta Road, Jalgaon 425 003.

Approximate specification of finished diaper a) Absorbent Pad Dimension:

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Length : 10.5 inches.

Width : 3.25 inches.

Weight : 13.5 gms.

b) Finished diaper (Small size for baby's up to 8 kg) Dimension:

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Length : 15 inches.

Width : 9 inches (back), 7.5 inches (front).

Weight : 21 gms.

Note: Three sizes of diapers are found in the market, eg, small, medium and large according to the age of the baby. Baby diapers: Plant economics (fixed cost) at a glance Rated plant capacity 1,00,000 pieces/day (3 crore pieces of baby diapers/annum Basis: No. of working days 25 days/month = 300 days/annum No.of shifts: 1 per day; One shift : 8 hours Land & Building: (Rs.in crores) Total land required 1200 sq mtr @ Rs 3000/sq mtr 0.36 Built-up area 1,000 sq mtr(Min Ht 5.5 mts with normal concrete@ Ea 5000/- per sq mtr) 0.50 Total - 1 0.86 Plant & Machinery: Total plant & machinery for diapers (approx.) 3.00

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential | Nonwovens & Technical Textiles | Features | The ITJ

Installation cost for electricity - 130 KVA transformer 0.015 Total - 2 3.015 Other fixed assets Office equipment, project preparation, lab, etc. 0.025 Preliminary expenses 0.030 Total - 3 0.055 TOTAL (1+2+3) 3.93 Conclusion Among the disposable markets, the diaper market is still in its infancy in India. Diapers are still very expensive as they are mostly imported or re-packaged in the country. With the urban population increasing and the increasing trend of working women with higher earnings, the diaper market will grow rapidly in the next few years. Pampers and Huggies are already present in the market, but the pricing is at a level where it cannot stimulate demand. Acknowledgement The authors acknowledge with thanks the Director and Management of MANTRA for giving permission to publish this paper. Note: For detailed version of this article please refer the print version of The Indian Textile Journal April 2008 issue. B S Pancholi Man Made Textiles Research Association, Near textile market telephone exchange, Ring road, Surat - 395 002 Tel: 0261 - 2323211, 2337062. TeleFax: 0261- 2322500. Web: mantrasurat.org Dr S R Naik Man Made Textiles Research Association, Near textile market telephone exchange, Ring road, Surat - 395 002 Tel: 0261 - 2323211, 2337062. TeleFax: 0261- 2322500. Web: mantrasurat.org