Sanitary Napkin Manufacturing - Business Plan

Sanitary napkin or sanitary pad is an absorbent personal care product worn by woman while she is menstruating . There is a rising demand for cheap sanitary napkins among rural women due to lower cost of sanitary napkins and rising hygiene awareness. Most indian women fashion up pads out of cotton cloth as a home made and inexpensive solution to the hygiene and comfort needs during periods. These home made cloth pads are washed and reused. They lack the absorbing and liquid retention capacity of sanitary napkin and hence may lack in hygiene and comfort. Studies show that the practice of using cloth during periods associated with very high risk of cervical cancer. Hence, there has a strong demand for sanitary napkins that are cost-effective and locally made. In this article, we look at a business plan of a small sanitary manufacturing unit, setup with an investment of less than 1 lakh.

Business Plan Overview

This business plan is aimed at

helping women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups in local areas setup a small or micro sanitary napkin manufacturing unit with an investment of less than Rs.1 lakh. On the other hand, normal sanitary manufacturing units use machines that cost about Rs.75 lakh to Rs.2.5 crores, leading to higher cost of sanitary pad.

Investment Required

For this project a room of about 400 square feet is required for manufacturing and processing of the sanitary pads. The following list of machinery and accessories would be required for setting up the business:

De-fiberation machine for grinding wood pulp - 1 (Approximate cost of Rs.20000)
Core forming machine to form napkin core - 1 (Approximate cost of Rs.5000)
Soft touch sealing machine - 1 (Approximate cost of Rs.30000)
Napkin core dyes - 5 (Approximate cost of Rs.4000)
UV treatment unit - 1 (Approximate cost of Rs.10,000)
Weighing scale - 1 (Approximate cost of Rs.1000)
Work tables - 2 (Approximate cost of Rs.5000)

Manufacturing Process

First wood pulp is purchased in commercially available sheet form. The wood pulp is then de-fiberated on the de-fiberation machine using a carbon steel blade that de-fiberates the wood pulp to a required filament length of 1-1.5 mm. Once the wood pulp is de-fiberated, its then fed into the core forming machine to compress the pulp into a required share of the napkin. This process is done manually without any automation. The formed wood pulp cores on the core forming machine are then wrapped by a non woven fabric and is sealed by sensitive impulse sealing method. Nichrome alloy filament is used in the construction of the sealing pads. Finally, the position sticker is pasted on the napkin and the napkins are packed.

Financial Plan

As per the method discussed above, the per day production of napkins is estimated at 1500 napkins. If 10 napkins are made into a packet, a total of about 150 packets can be manufactured per day. In such a case, an annual revenue of about Rs.10, lakhs can be expected, if the average selling price per packet is Rs.20. The total cost per production for such a unit, inclusive of raw materials, wages and salaries, depreciation and misc. expenditure would be about Rs.7 lakhs, giving a net profit of Rs.3 lakhs.

Business Registrations

Since, the unit will have less than Rs.10 lakh of revenue, its best to setup the unit as a

proprietorship firm. There will also be no requirement for VAT or GST registration as the annual revenue would be less than Rs.10 lakh in most cases.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Sanitary Napkin Manufacturing Business Plan India.

The target market for this sanitary napkin manufacturing business is primarily rural women who seek cost-effective and locally made sanitary napkins. The plan aims to provide an affordable alternative to expensive commercial sanitary napkins or unhygienic cloth pads used by many women in rural areas.

According to the business plan, the initial investment required to set up this small-scale sanitary napkin manufacturing unit is less than Rs.1 lakh (approximately $1,300). This relatively low investment makes it a viable option for women entrepreneurs and self-help groups in local areas.

The manufacturing process involves defiberating wood pulp sheets using a machine, compressing the defiberated pulp into the desired shape of the napkin core using a core forming machine, wrapping the core with non-woven fabric, and sealing it using a soft touch sealing machine. The finished napkins are then UV treated and packaged.

With the equipment and setup described in the business plan, the estimated daily production capacity is around 1,500 sanitary napkins or 150 packets (assuming 10 napkins per packet).

Based on the assumptions in the business plan, if the average selling price per packet is Rs.20, the potential annual revenue for this business could be around Rs.10 lakhs (approximately $13,000). With an estimated total cost of production of Rs.7 lakhs, the net profit could be around Rs.3 lakhs (approximately $4,000).

Since the estimated annual revenue for this business is less than Rs.10 lakhs, the article suggests setting it up as a proprietorship firm. It also mentions that there would likely be no requirement for VAT or GST registration as the annual revenue would be below the threshold.

This business plan is significant for rural women as it provides them with an opportunity to establish a small-scale sanitary napkin manufacturing unit with a relatively low investment. It aims to address the demand for affordable and hygienic sanitary napkins in rural areas, while also promoting entrepreneurship among women and self-help groups.

The article highlights that manufactured sanitary napkins have better absorbency and liquid retention capacity compared to homemade cloth pads. Additionally, studies have shown that using cloth pads during menstruation is associated with a higher risk of cervical cancer, making sanitary napkins a more hygienic and safer option.

The key raw materials required for this manufacturing process include wood pulp sheets, non-woven fabric for wrapping the napkin core, and packaging materials for the final product.

The article mentions that the finished sanitary napkins undergo UV treatment. UV treatment is likely used for disinfection and sterilization purposes, ensuring that the final product is hygienic and safe for use.