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

Baby diapers: Cost economics, marketing potential

Among the disposables markets, the diaper market is still in its infancy in India, say B S Pancholi and Dr S R Naik, 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 of the pad is to absorb and retain body fluids, and the non-woven fabric gives the
diaper a comfortable shape and helps to prevent leakage. The diapers are made by a multi-step
process in which first the absorbent pad is made which is then attached to a permeable top sheet
and impermeable bottom sheet. The other accessories are then sealed together by application of
heat or ultrasonic vibrations.

Emerging market potential - Global and Indian

About absorbent hygiene products

Today, the global market for absorbent hygiene

products is over US $50 bn (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 invented 60 years ago.
- Adult incontinence products appeared 30 years ago.

In India, the evolution is expected to move faster.

Global market potential

Consumption of hygiene products per capita - Year 2005 is shown at a glance in Table 1.

Table 1. Consumption of hygiene products per capita - Year 2005.

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Ｒｕｓｓｉａ １４３．２ ５，３４９ ８．３

ＵＳＡ ２９８．２ ４１，７６８ ３５

Ｔｏｔａｌ　Ｗｏｒｌｄ ６，４６５ ６，８７９ Ｎ／Ａ

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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 Non-woven

demand demand
Year
Qty Value Qty Value
(mn pcs) (Rs.Cr.) (tonnes) (Rs.Cr.)
2001-02 53.85 70.00 161.55 1.78
2003-
61.65 80.14 184.95 2.03
04(Estimated)
2007-
80.81 105.05 242.43 2.67
08(Projected)

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

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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, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydrolysed polyacrylonitrile-
grafted 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

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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 nonwoven

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.

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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

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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) 02764-

224994. E-mail:briskgroup@yahoo.com

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:

ｉ．　 Length : 10.5 inches.

ｉｉ．　 Width : 3.25 inches.

ｉｉｉ．　 Weight : 13.5 gms.

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

Dimension:

ｉ．　 Length : 15 inches.

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

ｉｉｉ．　 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

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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

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