Sanitary napkin manufacturing project
The Need
Menstrual women need sanitary napkins every month. Socially and economically marginalized women, struggling for their subsistence in rural India and urban slums, cannot afford anything better than a worthless piece of cloth available in the house.
The products available in the market are virtually out of reach for the common woman who cannot pay as much as 15 to 20 Rupees apiece. Produced by multinational companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, sanitary napkins remains a distant dream for over 70% of Indian women.
Objective
The project promotes the production and distribution of sanitary napkins by the socially and economically disadvantaged women at an affordable cost in the slums in and around Bengaluru. It also allows the underprivileged woman to have access to basic sanitary hygienic provisions.
Project Promoter
Concerns Universal Foundation (CUF) is an NGO committed to the cause of the socially and economically marginalized poor since 2001. CUF’s primary constituency is represented by 30 urban slums and 30 rural villages. CUF serves a disadvantaged population of around 60,000 people.
Project Execution & Sustainability
The project employs women trained in the production and distribution of sanitary napkins at an affordable cost.
The low-cost machinery is indigenously developed and has been successful at many locations.
A single unit is capable of manufacturing over 2000 pieces in eight hours. The plan is to train 6 women in the production process and another 10 in product promotion.
A manufacturing unit comprises of the following four sets of machinery
Defibering Machine : Wood pulp which is commercially available in sheet form has to be de-fibered. The device for doing this is similar to the conventional mixer-grinder that women use in Indian kitchens.
Core Forming Unit : This machine compresses the defibered pulp to the required shape, which constitutes the soft core of the napkin.
Napkin Finishing Machine : The core that is formed as a pad has to be wrapped with non-woven fabrics (polypropylene) and sealed. This is a sensitive impulse sealing machine. It is a foot pedal powered to apply the pressing pressure to seal the pad on three sides.
UV Radiation Chamber : The assembled product has to go through the purification / disinfection process to ensure that the napkins are hygienic and sanitized.
The production and distribution cost would account for 70% of the product price. A 30% mark-up will keep the project sustainable and would facilitate future expansion and build reserves.
The project plan is to raise about 25,000 US dollars (About 1.5 million Indian rupees) to get a pilot line going. As of August 2015 we have raised USD 9000.
