PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

I am Samhitha C Karanth, owner of a Sanitary Napkins manufacturing unit. Sanitary napkins belong
to feminine personal hygiene industry. This industry consists of products which are most essential
and fast moving in today’s world. Only 64% of women aged 15-24 in India, use hygienic sanitary
napkins and menstrual cups while menstruating. Rest of them use cloth and other unhygienic
products. In future, hoping for the percentage of women using sanitary napkins increase, there is a
wider scope of increase in the sale of sanitary napkins. My role in the industry is to produce more
environmental friendly and pocket friendly sanitary napkins so that even the poor section of the
society is also addressed.

FORECASTING
The production estimate of Financial Year 2021-22 was 40 Lakhs sanitary napkins. Based on which,
I’m doing a production estimation of 40, 50,000 sanitary pads in the Financial Year 2022-23, and a
production estimate of 10, 15,000 in the 4 th Quarter of this financial year which is from January to
March. Since Sanitary napkin is a fast moving consumer good, the production unit must produce an
average of 11300 pads a day and number of hours machinery working in a day must be 18hrs.
Laborers required must be 200 who work on shift bases. The production goal by the end of this year
is 40, 40, 000, keeping inventory of 10000 napkins in case of emergencies. The target this year to
increase the production and cater to large section of the society.

PRODUCT DESIGN
The Sanitary napkins which were produced in this year has been updated to a lighter, more
absorbent and a more smoother and confortable version for better hygiene and usage of the
product by women. I’m also aiming at making them more travel friendly by increasing the absorption
rate and length of the product.

PROCESS PLANNING
The basic raw material required for preparation of the top layer of the sanitary napkin is Hydrophilic
Non-Woven & Spun lace Non-Wovencotton.  The second layer, “absorbent core” focuses on
improving the absorbency of sanitary pad. Hence, Air bonded Composite Non-Woven or thermally
bonded Non-Woven is used. The final layer “Barrier sheet” consists of Super Absorbing Polymer
between pulp & back sheet.  

ROUTING
There are four layers in a sanitary pad hence there are four stages in manufacturing a sanitary pad.

The first stage or the layer is the Fluid Transferring Layer which is usually made up of Hydrophilic
Non-Woven which absorbs fluid.

The second layer is the Distribution Layer or Acquisition layer which is made up of Air bonded
Composite Non-Woven or thermally bonded Non-Woven , mainly required to spread the fluid
throughout the pad.
 The third layer is the Absorbent Layer made up of Super Absorbing Polymer which is affixed
on a tissue and placed between pulp and backseat.

The fourth and the final layer is the barrier layer where a PE breathable sheet which is laminated
with polyethylene. Thus making a sanitary napkin leakage free, breathable and a comfortable one.

Apart from these layers, positioning glue is used to in order to maintain the position of the sanitary
napkin. The release paper is also used in order to displace the pad from its position.

MATERIAL CONTROL
When it comes to material control, in order to ensure there is no interruption in the manufacturing
process i.e. Sanitary napkins having a smooth surface without any wrinkles and folds which make the
surface uneven, and the surface of the pad must feel soft and comfortable so that it doesn’t cause
any irritation to the skin.

Every sanitary napkin has absorbent filler like cellulose pulp and cotton. These fillers are tested in
order to ensure that they don’t contain any lumps, oil spots, dirt and foreign contaminants. Since
covering of the absorbent fillers is the material that allows the fluids to flow, they must be porous. It
has to be porous. Mostly materials like cotton, gauze and non-woven fabrics are used for making the
coverings. They should also be clean and hygienic. Since most of the materials like cotton and non-
woven fabrics are used for making the coverings, they must be clean and hygienic.

TOOL CONTROL
The machinery required for producing a sanitary napkin is as follows

1. De-fiberation machine for grinding Hydrophilic Non-Woven material

2. Core forming machine to form napkin core  
3. Soft touch sealing machine
4. Napkin core dyes
5. UV treatment unit required to sterilize the sanitary napkins
6. Weighing scale

LOADING
The work of 200 labourers is to ensure the inventory required is under control, and the right
usage of quantity of each raw material as it is important to maintain the quality of the pad.
Since Sanitary napkin is a very delicate product, the process involved be it grinding, mat
formation, tissue spread, mat formation, wrapping PE film, hot melt seal embossing, while
applying hot melt adhesive, at the time of Release belt requires at most sanity and hence no
labours are directly allowed to touch them, except for machineries.
 SCHEDULING
As estimated earlier, in order to produce efficiently and effectively with adequate amount of
rest, the production of sanitary pads are done batch wise with a 18hr of shift with a goal of
producing 11300 napkins per day, having to produce around 630 pads an hour.