SOAP

About the product: Soap is a salt of fatty acids used in a variety of

cleansing products. In a household, soaps are surfactants usually
used for washing, bathing. When used for cleaning, soap separates
particles from the article being cleaned. When we wash our hands,
soap, lathered with a little water, kills microorganisms by
disorganizing their membrane lipid bilayer and denaturing their
proteins. It also emulsifies oils, enabling them to be carried away by
running water.

Soap is created by mixing fats and oils with a base, as opposed to

detergent which is created by combining chemical compounds in a
mixer.

The following case study will be conducted by taking Lifebuoy soap

as an example.

Company Profile: Lifebuoy is a product of Unilever and

manufactured and marketed in India by Hindustan Unilever, the
Indian subsidiary of Unilever. Hindustan Unilever Limited is a market
leader in Indian consumer products with presence in over 20
categories of consumer products which includes soaps, shampoos,
teas and detergents etc. It has its headquarter in Mumbai with
manufacturing plants located all around India depending upon the
facility requirements of the product.

Facility location: The manufacturing plant of Lifebuoy is located in

Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Following are the reasons behind the
location of Lifebuoy’s manufacturing plant in Haridwar:
1 Availability of Energy: The energy needs of the plant are fulfilled by
energy generated by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation which is
situated only 100 kms away from Haridwar.

2 Availability of water: Plenty of water is available due to close

proximity to the river Ganges, its tributaries and distributaries.

3 Availability of raw materials: Major raw material of soap

manufacturing is palm oil and there are plenty of palm oil refining
units situated in and around Haridwar.

4 Cost of land is cheap and ample amount of land is available for

future expansion.

5 Cheap labour is easily available

Plant Layout:

Product layout is the preferred plant layout for soap manufacturing.

It is also known as line (type) layout. It implies that various
operations on raw materials are performed in a sequence and the
machines are placed along the product flow line, i.e., machines are
arranged in the sequence in which the raw materials will be
operated upon. This type of layout is preferred for continuous
production, i.e. involving a continuous flow of raw material
processing towards the finished product stage.
Reasons behind the selection of this layout are:

(1) Less space requirements for the same volume of production.

(2) Automatic material handling, lesser material handling

movements, time and costs.

(3) Less in-process inventory.

(4) Product completes in lesser time.

(5) Better co-ordination and simple production planning and

control.

(6) Smooth and continuous work flow.

(7) Less skilled workers may serve the purpose.

Production Method:

Flow production is the preferred production method for soap

manufacturing. It involves continuous movement of items through
each stage of production, often along a conveyor belt or assembly
line. Individual jobs are done in sequence. Also known as mass or line
production, the process involves the manufacturing of a large
volume of identical, standardised products. Flow production is highly
capital-intensive and has high set-up costs, leading to high capacity
utilisation. Employees are normally semi-skilled and the process is
suited to both mechanisation and automation.

Flow production allows for economy of scale and division of labour.

Specialised staff tends to work on a single task.