The huge consumption of baby diapers worldwide (81, 993, 30)
millions has derived many investors to enter as converters. The market
of baby diapers is a very competitive market. Consequently, to capture
a market niche one has to decrease the diaper cost effectively. The
cost variables are raw material, machine depreciation, manpower,
energy, and infrastructure. To reduce the cost of any product one
should look into the component that represents the highest percentage
of the product cost. In that case the raw material factor should be
optimized since it represents 80% of the diaper cost. The performance
of machine in terms of quality and waste minimization has also been
considered. The waste percentage affects the diaper cost dramatically
University Of Gezira
Journals Of University Of Gezira
Gezira Journal of Engineering and
Applied Sciences
ISSN 9556-1728 Vol 6 No 22
since as the cost of wasted material is high. In this sense the machines
that can save on raw material would be the one that can compete well
in the baby diaper market war. The raw material cost reduction is
normally on waste and carrier tissue paper which is used by Lo-tech
machines in lack of vacuum pressure for holding down the diaper
during processing. The engineering features of the baby diaper
machines are examined in terms of performance and product quality.
In this research a comparative study is conducted to find out the best
alternatives to enhance the quality of the baby diaper and increase
savings on raw material cost. It is found that the Hi-Tech machine
comparatively is the best in terms of performance, least cost, and
quality. Consequently, it is the best investment alternative.