Who is who in baby diapers?

By Carlos RicherRicher Investment SA de CVDiaper Consulting Services, Diaper Testing Lab, Diaper Factory Audits, Benchmarking, Appraisals, R&D, Expert Witness, New Diaper Factories.

Who is who in baby Diapers?

No simple answer (none that I know).

I will attempt to provide a step by step guideline.

The objective is not to give you an answer but to help you find your own.

We may not agree on which is the very best but at least we are going to be very close.

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Different Perspectives

The point of view of the end user. The point of view of the large trader. The point of view of the

manufacturer.

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USA 2009 Guatemala 2009

Pampers Cruiser USA 2009

Pom Pom Guatemala 2009

Brazil Summer 2009

Argentina Summer 2009

African Diapers Summer 2009

Different Segments

Depending on market maturity you can sub divide the market in 3 to 5 segments, I prefer to use only 4:

Tier 1 Economy Tier 2 Value. Tier 3 Premium. Tier 4 Supreme.

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Choosing the brands to test

Tiers and Profits. Lower profits lower Tiers.

To select brands according to specific Tiers, always use the point of view of the consumer.

Compare prices from the same kind of store.

Select the brands according to your perspective.

Consumers: based on avaiability Traders: based on competitive price and

importation. Manufacturers: based on local and

international competitors, even if they are not head to head today.

Mexican Baby Diaper Brands(arranged by tier segment)

Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4

Mexican diapers Tier 3, July2009

Kiddies 2009 BB Tips 2009 Suavelastic Max 2009 Total Dry 2009

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How many samples you need to test?

You need only 25 diapers per brand to perform all tests.

You need to make sure the samples represent the market.

How can you make sure? Why is this important?

National brands .vs. Small manufacturers. Good enough: Buy 5 bags (from 5 differnt

stores). Best but too expensive: Select one diaper

from 25 bags.

What size to choose? Unfortunately not all brands are consitent

along all sizes. If you can accept the assumption that they are

consistent, then you should test the size with the highest volume of sales, usually Medium or Large.

What needs to be tested?

1- Diaper Construction Craftsmanship (all 25).

2- The absorbent pad system (10 of 25).

3- The fastening system (5 of 25).4- The containment system (5 of 25).5- Comfort and Luxury (5 but none is

damaged).6- Cost of manufacturing (only for

traders and manufacturerers).

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1- Diaper Craftsmanship.

This is one of the most important categories to test and amazingly you do not even need a lab to do it.

The idea is to perform a visual audit on all samples.

My proposal is to classify the diapers in 4 groups: No defects. The samples look perfect to the

naked eye. Minor Defects. Only a manufacturer can

detect. Major Defects. The consumer will detect it. Critical Defects. Impossible or too risky to

use the diaper.

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1- Diaper Craftsmanship.

Use a formula to convert all defects into a number that represents the quality of craftsmanship of the diapers.

Suggested formula: 1 Critial Defect = 10 Major Defects 1 Major Defect = 10 Minor Defects. 1 Minor Defect = 1 point in the scale of 100.

Craftsmanship= 100 - Minor Defects – Major Defects * 10

If a Critical Defect is found then the result is Zero.

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1- Diaper Craftsmanship (examples)

You inspect your 25 diapers that represent the whole market and find the following: all diapers have No Defects. Then in this case the result is 100

You inspect another brand with 25 diapers and you find 15 Minor Defects, 1 Major Defect, and 9 diapers with No Defects. The result is (100- 15 – 10)= 75

After inspecting another brand you find 1 critical defect and 10 minor defects. The result is Zero.

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Examples of Minor Defects:

Tape folding angle (for example: less than 25 degrees)

Backsheet folded edges (less than 20 mm in total).

ADL is out of position but still inside absorbent pad.

3D pad knife cut is out of registration. Leg cuff height (less than 15 mm). C Folding or Bi fold out of position (less

than 30 mm) Top sheet does not match backsheet with

an excess of more than 15 mm.

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Guatemala 2009

KC, Brazil

Morocco Aug, 2009

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ADL Patch

Pad Knife Registration

Mexico, June 2009

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Venezuela May 2009

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KC, Huggies Pure and Natural USA Sep 2009

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Examples of Major Defects:

Tape folding angle (for example more than 25 degrees)

Leg cuffs stay down and wont open. A missing leg cuff on either side. An exposed drop of glue (but less than 5

mm) A small window without fluff within the

pad. Leg gathers or leg cuffs without elastics.Richer

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Examples of Critical Defects:

A small hole on the backsheet. A piece of leg trimming still attached. One tape or both are missing. No frontal tape. Exposed pulp due to nonwoven rupture. Open ends exposing the pulp. Presence of fungus or spores or any other

kind of biological contaminants.

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1- Diaper Craftsmanship (process control)

Weight variation can be another manifestation.

This is typically due to lack of process control originated by the equipment or by the people.

Most times it can be explained by a variation on the amount of fluff (dirty drum pockets, etc).

Other times is due to variation of SAP between diaper to diaper (volumetric .vs. gravimetric).

Depending on the origin is the dimension of the problem (more critical if it is due to SAP).

Lack of Process Control

Standard Deviation (Total Weight)

Craftsmanship

Less than 0.5 grams Excellent

Between 0.5 to 1.0 grams Regular

Between 1.0 to 1.5 grams Not so good

More than 1.5 grams Bad

More than 2.0 grams Terrible

Is it because of fluff or SAP?

1 gram of fluff holds about one third of the free swell urine capacity that is typical SAP.

1 gram of fluff holds less than 1/15 of the retentive capacity of the typical SAPs.

For this reason looking at variations on centrifugal retentive capacity can give us an excellent idea if the weight variation is due to the fluff or to the SAP.

Lack of Process Control

Standard Deviation (Ret. Capacity) Centrifugal Capacity

Craftsmanship

Less than 10 ml Excellent

Between 10 to 20 ml Regular

Between 20 to 30 ml Bad

More than 30 ml Terrible

2- The absorbent pad system

Often considered the heart of the diaper. Has to work in harmony with the overall

design. It is conformed by:

The absorbent pad (a mix of SAP and Celulose).

A pad wrapping material (tissue or light weight Spunbond).

Hot melt adhesive (for integrity) Curly Fiber (P&G, Ontex, etc.) ADL patch (high loft nonwovens used for

liquid acquisition)

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Huggies Pure Natural

HEB Supreme Fit

W. Confort Stretch

Premium

Pampers Baby Dry

Huggies Supreme Nat.

Fit

Baby HEB Luvs Huggies Little

Movers

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

ADL Usage USA Diapers 2009 (GSM)G

r/M

2

Different kinds of carriers

Why is it used ? Discrete pad formation (No carrier?) Tissue or Spunbond ? In USA almost everyone use

Nonwoven In Colombia nonwoven is also

preferred; in Mexico is split (by KC and P&G); in Ecuador, Venezuela, in Mercosur, Africa and India tissue is preferred.

Top/ Bottom/ Fully Wrapped?

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2- The absorbent pad system

In order to test which diaper has the best absorbent pad system, we need to test: Total free swell capacity (using saline solution at

0.9% and 23 C). Centrifugal or retentive capacity (or absorbency

under load). Strike trough times (also called liquid penetration

times). Wicking speed at 90 and/or 45 degrees. Pad Symmetry and 3D core indexes.

Of course many more sophisticated tests can be done, these are the tests you can do with a low budget. Not even the best of dynamic tests can compare against the actual testing with real babies.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Symmetry= (1+3+5) .vs. (2+4+6)3D Index= (average(1,2,3,4)/average (5,6))

Huggies Dry Comfort

Cuddlers Pampers Active Baby

Basic by Huggies

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Core Symmetry Index South Africa July 2009Ideal = 0%

Core

Sym

metr

y I

ndex (

%)

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Core 3-D IndexPad Core front side weight versus back, USA 2009

3D

Ab

sorb

en

t C

ore

In

dex

Huggies Dry Comfort

Cuddlers Pampers Active Baby

Basic by Huggies

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Total Capacity (grams) A.U.L. 2.5 KPam

l

South Africa July 2009

Huggies Dry Comfort

Cuddlers Pampers Active Baby

Basic by Huggies

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80ST 1 (sec) ST 2 (sec) ST 3 (sec)

Secon

ds

100 ml insults @ 23 oC Saline 0.9%

South Africa July 2009

Huggies Dry Comfort

Cuddlers Pampers Active Baby

Basic by Huggies

0

2

4

6

8

Rewet 2 (grams) Rewet 3 (grams)g

ram

s

3-The fastening System From the point of view of diaper performance we

need to know the diaper fits the right waist range of babies and that it will stay in place.

To know these parameters you need to test:

Max and Min waist circonference. Tape Peel force (using its full width). Tape shear force (using its full width). Relative dimensions between lateral and frontal

tape. Stretch Force, both before and after the oven test.

Chiquitines

Freskolin)Jueguitos

Huggies

Guatemala 2009

Hook and Loop at 125 X Hook and Loop at 500 XHuggies

Hooks used on Huggies

Loop at embossing

Freskolin Locked Loop

Hooks with less density of hooksused on Freskolin Brand

Hook & Loop used onJueguitos and ChiquitinesSold in Guatemala in 2009

Pom Pom G 2009

Baby Genius G 2009

Freskolin XG 2009

Chiquitines G 2009

Jueguitos G 2009

Huggies Classic XG

2009

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

Tape Peel Force (Newton's), Guatemala 2009F

orc

e i

n N

ew

ton

's

Required Peel Forces

Diaper Size Min. Peel Force in Newtons

Newborn and Small

> 0.40 N

Medium >0.50 NLarge >0.55 N

X Large >0.60 NTry not to exceed 2 Newtons

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Huggies Dry Comfort

Cuddlers Pampers Active Baby

Basic by Huggies

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Lateral Tape (mm) Frontal Tape (mm)m

m

Pom Pom G 2009

Baby Genius G 2009

Freskolin XG 2009

Chiquitines G 2009

Jueguitos G 2009

Huggies Classic XG

2009

340

365

390

415

440

465

490

515

540

Max. Waist Range (mm)

Min.Waste Range (mm)

4-The Containment System

We want to make sure the diaper is capable of holding the storage of liquids under pressure without leaking to the outside.

To know this you need to test: The performance of the leg cuffs. Elastic stretch and resistance to the oven test. The size of the open channels. The pinhole test to avoid leakage trough the

backsheet.

Open Channels at leg cuff ends

Report of Laboratory results    Tests: Leg Cuff Barrier Performance, Seconds before a leakage

Date: 7/21/09 Country: South Africa Medium

Reported By: C. Richer

Brand Huggies Cuddlers Pampers Basic by  

Seconds before Leak Dry Comfort Maxi Active Baby Huggies   Sample 1 (Right) 13.3 30.0 30.0 30.0  Sample 1 (Left) 5.2 30.0 30.0 6.2   Sample 1 (Right) 2.4 30.0 30.0 30.0  Sample 1 (Left) 5.5 23.2 30.0 24.3   Sample 1 (Right) 13.3 16.4 30.0 30.0  Sample 1 (Left) 4.1 30.0 30.0 30.0   Sample 1 (Right) 11.3 30.0 30.0 30.0  Sample 1 (Left) 4.6 19.5 30.0 18.9   Average Time (right) 10.0 26.6 30.0 30.0  Average Time (left) 4.9 25.7 30.0 19.9   Observations FAIL FAIL OK OK   FAIL FAIL OK FAIL  

5-Comfort and Luxury

It is the most subjective chapter of our diaper classification process.

Becuase it has little or nothing to do with performance but a lot to do with consumer preference.

Some things to look for: Use of cloth like backsheet or plain film. Use of registered or random printed tapes and frontal. Use of easy recognizable cartoon characters, such as Disney,

Sesame St, versus the Peabody Ducks or any other Ugly Duckling Design.

Use of special skin topical lotions or perfumes. Ecological claims.

Use a focus group…… or at least a group of friends.

6-Cost of manufacturing

Comparing diaper performance without comparing manfacturing costs is like driving a car at night without the headights. You will crash.

How do you estimate diaper manufacturing cost? Find out the exact usage of each diaper element

(reverse engineering). Multiply each element by its individual raw material

cost. SAP and pulp in the mix can be easily calculated in a

very exact way using the total pad weight, the free swell and centrifugal retention, and the performance of a sample of SAP extracted from the diaper.

X (a) + Y(b) = 450 a=14.5 c=1.7 X (c) + Y(d) = 375 b=31.5 d=23.5 X=19.7 Y=8.36 SAP

SAP Fluff

Country: ANGOLA, 2009  Tests: Total Overall

Dimensions      

BRAND Tender Care Baby Love Suave My Baby Dina PlusSize M M M M MTotal Diaper Width. 310 330 325 296 308Diaper width at diaper's crotch 223 236 232 223 224Total Diaper Chassis With Ears 305 340 313 310 315Maximum Waist Circumference 528 556 536 494 508Minimum Waist Circumference 362 378 366 328 366Total Diaper Length 500 452 454 444 463Use of Clothlike (Yes/No) No Yes No No NoUse of Printed Backsheet No No No No NoSynchronized Printing (Yes/No) No No No No NoPad Width 110 114 110 130 110Pad Length 412 379 371 377 380Pad width at pad's crotch 110 95 110 112 83Height of Leg Cuffs 29 30 41 27 30Folded Edge Nnwn at leg cuff 20 14 15 12 7No. of Spandex at Cuff per side 2 2 2 0 1No. of Synthetic Rubber at Cuff 0 0 0 2 0Open Ends at Tack Down 31 21 15 20 17ADL Width 0 0 0 75 0ADL Length 0 0 0 170 0ADL (GSM) 0 0 0 20 0Frontal Tape Width 40 39 36 38 36Frontal Tape Length 224 198 224 217 200BOPP or Mechanical BOPP MECH. BOPP BOPP BOPPSelf adhesive or In Line YES YES YES YES YESUse of Synchronized Printing NO NO NO NO NOLateral Tape width 23 26 28 24 25Hook width if used 0 26 X 11 0 0 0Lateral Tape total Length 59 54 59 59 59No of Spandex Elastics at Leg per side 3 3 3 0 3No. of Synthetic Rubber at Leg 0 0 0 2 0Waist Elastic Width 0 18 0 0 0Waist Elastic Length 0 143 0 0 0

Use of Carrier (Up/Bottom/Full Wrap) Wrapped Wrapped Wrapped Wrapped UpperCarrier Material (Tissue or Nonwoven) Tissue Tissue Tissue Tissue Tissue

RAW MATERIALS REFERENCE COSTS (Jan 2009) USD       

CELULOSE ($/Ton)   810CARRIER (m2)     0.03LEG CUFF NONWOVEN PHOBIC ($/M2) 0.03CENTRAL NONWOVEN PHILIC ($/MT2) 0.04POLY FILM ($/KG)   2.3HOT MELT ADHESIVE ($/KG)   2.6BOPP FASTENING TAPE 54 mm. ($/M2) 0.64BOPP RELEASE TAPE 48 mm. ($/M2) 0.72BOPP FRONTAL TAPE ADHESIVE ($/MT2) 0.31LEG AND CUFF ELASTIC SPANDEX ($/KG) 9.2WAIST ELASTIC ($/MT2)   0.39S. A . P. ($/KG)     2.25CLOTH LIKE BACKSHEET 27 grams ($/M2) 0.08MECHANICAL FRONTAL LOOP ($/M2) 1.21MECHANICAL LATERAL HOOK TAPE PRE COMBINED ($/M2) 2.54MECHANICAL ELASTIC LATERAL HOOK TAPE PRE COMBINED ($/M2) 3.28ADL ($/M2) 40 gsm   0.14

BOPP FINGER TAB   0.85

Manufacturing Cost

Example of potential raw material costs for Tier 3: Sample A= 0.086 USD Sample B= 0.083 USD Sample C= 0.084 USD Sample D= 0.089 USD

A new machine upgrade does not look so expensive anymore.

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Not the same if you are B and better than the rest, or D and the worst in your tier.

Putting it all together Following the suggested guidline you

will know by now which diaper is the best in every one of the six measured dimensions.

How to add them all together to find the best?

Craftsmanship; Absorbet system together with Containment; Luxury items; Fastening system.

Use of mannequin tests. Consumer tests .vs. Laboratory tests.

Conclusions You need to know where you stand in terms of

diaper performance but also in terms of costs, use trends when possible.

You need to know your weaknesses, strengths, risks and oportunities before you can suggest product design improvements that make sense.

Dont be affraid to invest in machine upgrades when needed; it may be too late once you are forced to do it.

If you have a lower performing product with a higher unit cost, look for an urgent solution. If you cant find it ask for help.

If you are beyond help, I can help you sell your old equipment.

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Thank YouQuestions?

By Carlos RicherRicher Investment SA de CVDiaper Consulting Serviceswww.disposablediaper.netcricher@richernet.com

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