Diaper Plant Location

[Zhahood]

I am looking to start a domestic eco-friendly diaper manufacturing company. At this point, I'm still in the planning phase and I'm trying to pick plant locations. Ideally, the area would have good highway access, a decent population, and a good number of ABDLs.

I have narrowed the states down to Ohio and Pennsylvania for policy reasons. If you live in PA or OH, please tell me what area and recommend areas for the new plant. For Ohio, I’m looking at the areas in and around Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, and Akron. For Pennsylvania, I’m looking at the areas in and around Harrisburg, Lancaster, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, State College, Hazleton, and Scranton. Please respond with age, sex, and closest metro from the list if you live within 45 minutes of these areas.

I say 45 minutes because the farthest people will drive for work is 90 minutes. By giving such a big radius (for reference Dayton to Cincinnati is about 54 minutes), It also preserves anonymity.

 

[LBBR]

I would think you'd be limited on locations just for the power needs. Manufacturing equipment like that typically runs on 3 phase 480v. At the very least you'd need a journeyman electrician to wire the machine in. A computer/instrument person for the electronics portion. A fabricator on site to make up the machine guarding. Diaper machines are from China, that don't adhere to OSHA standards. Other trades to consider, forklift operators, crane operators, general labor. While hiring just abdls, sounds great, you're talking about a manufacturing environment. I would think safety glasses, steel toe boots would be a minimum requirement.

 

[TheDiaperdStoner]

I would think you'd be limited on locations just for the power needs. Manufacturing equipment like that typically runs on 3 phase 480v. At the very least you'd need a journeyman electrician to wire the machine in. A computer/instrument person for the electronics portion. A fabricator on site to make up the machine guarding. Diaper machines are from China, that don't adhere to OSHA standards. Other trades to consider, forklift operators, crane operators, general labor. While hiring just abdls, sounds great, you're talking about a manufacturing environment. I would think safety glasses, steel toe boots would be a minimum requirement.

I live in a rural area and I've seen a local dispensary that make there own extracts, edibles and whatnot have 3 5000kva transformers. The dispensary is in a part of an old manufacturing plant. There's probably places like that everywhere leftover before we shipped all the manufacturing jobs to China. A lot of the abandoned manufacturing facilities around here used to make paper.

 

[KitsuneFox]

Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton

From my own personal experience working over 18 years in industrial construction / maintenance - the industrial areas of the above cities have very high crime.
Cost of doing business in the areas you selected is also going to be a problem, especially with sky-high lease rates on commercial / industrial zoned areas in places such as Philadelphia, State Collage, and Lancaster.

Before you consider any of this, have you looked into who your global competitors are, and how much it will cost to market your products in an already seemingly oversaturated market ?

On a side note: I bet you could find much less expensive areas to set up shop far from major cities, especially since you are not likely going to need thousands of highly skilled workers to run your facilities. Somewhere such as Clearfield County PA, Jefferson County PA, or Indiana County PA would most likely do just fine for your labor / transportation needs ( just pay attention to local tax rates before signing anything ).

 

[LBBR]

In case anyone wondering about operating costs. Back when I was working at Alcoa, our tiny 2000 pound capacity furnace used 5,000 bucks of power per month just to idle at temp. The small 20k capacity furnace used $15-20k per month in natural gas, plus the electricity to run the computer systems, genie system, etc. The production furnaces, 100-120k capacity used $30-45k per month.

 

[Zhahood]

I would think you'd be limited on locations just for the power needs. Manufacturing equipment like that typically runs on 3 phase 480v. At the very least you'd need a journeyman electrician to wire the machine in. A computer/instrument person for the electronics portion. A fabricator on site to make up the machine guarding. Diaper machines are from China, that don't adhere to OSHA standards. Other trades to consider, forklift operators, crane operators, general labor. While hiring just abdls, sounds great, you're talking about a manufacturing environment. I would think safety glasses, steel toe boots would be a minimum requirement.

Well yes, I'm looking in established commercial areas. That part is trivial. Electronics and guards would be handled by the machine manufacturer and the supplier I'm looking at is based right here in the US. There are plenty of companies that specialize in the installation of industrial machines. As far as the production floor is concerned, I would need maintenance personnel, machine operators, material handlers, janitors, and supervisors. And I simply need to see what the OSHA requirements will be.

From my own personal experience working over 18 years in industrial construction / maintenance - the industrial areas of the above cities have very high crime.
Cost of doing business in the areas you selected is also going to be a problem, especially with sky-high lease rates on commercial / industrial zoned areas in places such as Philadelphia, State Collage, and Lancaster.

Before you consider any of this, have you looked into who your global competitors are, and how much it will cost to market your products in an already seemingly oversaturated market ?

On a side note: I bet you could find much less expensive areas to set up shop far from major cities, especially since you are not likely going to need thousands of highly skilled workers to run your facilities. Somewhere such as Clearfield County PA, Jefferson County PA, or Indiana County PA would most likely do just fine for your labor / transportation needs ( just pay attention to local tax rates before signing anything ).

Actually, prices have been pretty decent for the size of building I need. I should also clarify that I wouldn't be building in these cities. Rather, I would be in the surrounding suburbs. For marketing, I need to attract 200,000 people using 4.5 products a day. If I can hit exponential (read X^2) growth I could hit my target within 4 years but it would likely be within 12 years, allowing me to pay off the start-up costs well within 15 years.

In case anyone wondering about operating costs. Back when I was working at Alcoa, our tiny 2000 pound capacity furnace used 5,000 bucks of power per month just to idle at temp. The small 20k capacity furnace used $15-20k per month in natural gas, plus the electricity to run the computer systems, genie system, etc. The production furnaces, 100-120k capacity used $30-45k per month.

Ohio's average electricity price is 13.24 cents per kilowatt-hour. Pennsylvania is 14.53. A 200 HP hydraulic power source draws roughly 155 kW. Assuming 20 hr workdays, It would draw roughly $12,313 in Ohio and $13,950 in Pennsylvania a month unless it needs more or less power.

 

[ade]

How would it be 'eco-friendly'?

From a report on dispies

Caps from a PDF (file too big, it says), but only the opening ones as it goes on nearly 200 pages and has a lot of waffle...and it was knackering my already wonky eyes up (sinuses) trying to read it on my phone.

www.adisc.org

 

[Saltedcaramel64]

How would it be 'eco-friendly'?
View attachment 71060 View attachment 71061

From a report on dispies

Caps from a PDF (file too big, it says), but only the opening ones as it goes on nearly 200 pages and has a lot of waffle...and it was knackering my already wonky eyes up (sinuses) trying to read it on my phone.

www.adisc.org

Even if the factory ran on pixie dust and good intentions instead of electricity, they are going to manufacture disposable diapers. Its not eco friendly, no diaper factory is.

 

[Zhahood]

How would it be 'eco-friendly'?
View attachment 71060 View attachment 71061

From a report on dispies

Caps from a PDF (file too big, it says), but only the opening ones as it goes on nearly 200 pages and has a lot of waffle...and it was knackering my already wonky eyes up (sinuses) trying to read it on my phone.

www.adisc.org

A third of PA's and almost a fifth of OH's power is nuclear which is extremely clean.

Even if the factory ran on pixie dust and good intentions instead of electricity, they are going to manufacture disposable diapers. Its not eco friendly, no diaper factory is.

The products will be fully biodegradable, which means they won't contribute to landfills as much and can simply be composted as they will contain ammonia neutralizers.

 

[diapernh]

ok, i am in central ohio. You have a lot very lot of things to consider.
- closeness to air/ground/intermodal transportation. basically if you locate out in the boonies, your cost to transport will be high. You need to be close to a FexEx, ups and rail hub.
- infrastructure. I am sure you will need availability of power, water, gas, internet, and roads

a place like columbus ohio would work, they have several air freight terminals, railroad, and even amazon distribution center. It is centrally located as best as can be in those areas you limited to.

Honestly you may be best to have your products produced by a china manufacturer and shipped over on cargo ships and distribute just like all the other diaper companies are doing (tykable, abu, northshore care, etc)

 

[Zhahood]

ok, i am in central ohio. You have a lot very lot of things to consider.
- closeness to air/ground/intermodal transportation. basically if you locate out in the boonies, your cost to transport will be high. You need to be close to a FexEx, ups and rail hub.
- infrastructure. I am sure you will need availability of power, water, gas, internet, and roads

a place like columbus ohio would work, they have several air freight terminals, railroad, and even amazon distribution center. It is centrally located as best as can be in those areas you limited to.

Honestly you may be best to have your products produced by a china manufacturer and shipped over on cargo ships and distribute just like all the other diaper companies are doing (tykable, abu, northshore care, etc)

Not concerned about intermodal or air as I am going to be focused on the North, Central, and South American markets. That said all I would need for compliance are shipping containers, which would put me back at ground transportation. FedEx and UPS will meet you at your place of business so that won't be a problem.

As far as infrastructure goes, I'm looking at areas that are already established, preferably along with appropriately sized buildings. Amazon is set up along the outskirts of the city which was my plan for my factory.

The entire point of my business is to eliminate the need for ABDL companies to use Chinese manufacturing for diapers which would bring considerable profits to the companies and savings to the customer.

 

[TeddyBearCowboy]

I am looking to start a domestic eco-friendly diaper manufacturing company. A

Is there such a thing?

Unless you are looking at cloth diapers that can be reused, how eco-friendly are diapers unless they are biodigradable? And if they are biodegradable, then do they actually work well. And the argument can even be out there with all the detergents and such of washing cloth diapers, and introducing that back into the environment, are they any better than putting a plastic one in the landfill?

I admit I am not educated on this subject, but sometimes I see "eco-friendly" ideas as not so eco-friendly. Take for instance ethanol based gasoline. As I understand it, it actually takes more energy to manufacture a gallon of ethanol based gasoline from corn than it produces. From the production of the corn crop to the harvesting, to the manufacturing process, then to delivery, the gallon of eco-friendly gas was not so eco-friendly.

• An acre of U.S. corn yields about 7,110 pounds of corn for processing into 328 gallons of ethanol. But planting, growing and harvesting that much corn requires about 140 gallons of fossil fuels and costs $347 per acre, according to Pimentel's analysis. Thus, even before corn is converted to ethanol, the feedstock costs $1.05 per gallon of ethanol.
• The energy economics get worse at the processing plants, where the grain is crushed and fermented. As many as three distillation steps are needed to separate the 8 percent ethanol from the 92 percent water. Additional treatment and energy are required to produce the 99.8 percent pure ethanol for mixing with gasoline. o Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion to ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make 1 gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTU. "Put another way," Pimentel says, "about 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in ethanol. Every time you make 1 gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BT

Sorry Zhahood to digress here into talking about gasoline rather than diapers, but my question is still how are any forms of diapers eco-friendly? Unless, they are truly biodegradable and can be re-introduced into the soil to allow the nutrients associated with the products which they were designed to hold to then be released back into the ecosystem without leaving a bunch of plastic or other chemicals that may be harmful, then what is gained?

Yes, some diapers and manufacturing processes may be less harmful than others, but unless you just have a means for the byproduct of digestion to be reintroduced for fertilization, then how is any sort of diaper product eco-friendly?

But I do agree, if we can lessen the eco-footprint, that is good. But I just don't believe there is a truly eco-friendly way to make diapers yet.

 

[Kbaby84]

I think this is an interesting idea. I have a manufacturing and packaging back ground. There are a lot of varrier to entries, but if you have the mobey to invested. The stats show this is a growing market and with everything being imported having manufacturing in US could very well be a game changer.

I be curious to hear about what markets you are going to go after. Are you striclty going to focus on ABDL community or focus efforta in medical as well. Coming from someone that has incontinenance and had trouble findi g the right product it is truly a market to go after.

I found the ABDL product are the best in quality and protection. Find a way to digitaly print the taped from for landing zone you have options.

 

[ESPF]

If you're after a decent location for a manufacturing plant...

Consider halfway between Cleveland and Accron. In Streetsboro oh 44241. (Just north of Kent State)

Immediate access to US 80 Ohio toll road (East - West)
Immediate access to the 480 (North to Cleveland and Lake Erie.)
Easy access to two separate rail heads.
Easy access to both the Cleveland airport and the Akron airfield.
Easy access to the entire Great Lakes.
Immediate access to a USP shipping hub.

The main drawback? It's pretty much an employee's market.
Although you can draw from both the Akron and Cleveland area for staff. You can also obtain part-time staff from Kent State University student body.

 

[Diaperman95]

I would think you'd be limited on locations just for the power needs. Manufacturing equipment like that typically runs on 3 phase 480v. At the very least you'd need a journeyman electrician to wire the machine in. A computer/instrument person for the electronics portion. A fabricator on site to make up the machine guarding. Diaper machines are from China, that don't adhere to OSHA standards. Other trades to consider, forklift operators, crane operators, general labor. While hiring just abdls, sounds great, you're talking about a manufacturing environment. I would think safety glasses, steel toe boots would be a minimum requirement.

This is not the stone age. All large cities and surrounding areas are going to have 3 phase 480 power. Even if you pick was to pick a location that does not because it out in the sticks. Then most of the time they can string a 3 rd wire to the area it can be paid for at a cost over several years. That or the the machines can be stepped down or use a phase converter to power it, As for OSHA all companies in America are going to fall under those guidelines. Though I am no expert on diaper making machines as someone that worked in several large factories there are lots of things that can be done to bring equipment up to OSHA standards. Most of which are guards and limit switches.

Are huggies and pampers not made in the USA still?

 

[Diaperman95]

I am looking to start a domestic eco-friendly diaper manufacturing company. At this point, I'm still in the planning phase and I'm trying to pick plant locations. Ideally, the area would have good highway access, a decent population, and a good number of ABDLs.

I have narrowed the states down to Ohio and Pennsylvania for policy reasons. If you live in PA or OH, please tell me what area and recommend areas for the new plant. For Ohio, I’m looking at the areas in and around Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, and Akron. For Pennsylvania, I’m looking at the areas in and around Harrisburg, Lancaster, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, State College, Hazleton, and Scranton. Please respond with age, sex, and closest metro from the list if you live within 45 minutes of these areas.

I say 45 minutes because the farthest people will drive for work is 90 minutes. By giving such a big radius (for reference Dayton to Cincinnati is about 54 minutes), It also preserves anonymity.

Hey I wish you the best. Just look at the companies that are doing well and try to improve on any short comings they may have. Most of all listen to customer feed back. This is why northshore is doing so well. If you do that an put the customers first you will do good. I would say start out with a real soid medical grade extended wear diaper and move into the ABDL prints later. Take it from a incontinent person,,, I will wear a medical diaper and so will most ABDL's. But many of incontinent folks like myself do not want baby print diapers.