The complexity of absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) -baby diapers, femcare products and those for coping with adult incontinence - is not immediately apparent to consumers who nevertheless greatly value their comfort and convenience. A typical open diaper - one that is fastened around the baby rather than the growing option of fully-formed pant styles - can consist of up to 20 separate functional components, all of which have to be assembled from running rolls of materials at speed in order to cost effectively produce what are extremely highly engineered systems for single-use, disposable products. GDM, a leading manufacturer of turnkey lines for the manufacture of AHPs headquartered in Offanengo, Italy, lists the components of a typical open diaper as: an elastic waist band; refastening tape; a stretching rear wing; a front rigid wing; frontal tape; the topsheet; skin care lotion; the absorbent core; the acquisition and distribution layer; a standing leak guard; leg elastic, and the backsheet, along with a wetness indicator. Many of these components can in addition, be composed of combination layers of non-wovens, plastic films and superabsorbent polymer (SAP), and they also need to be stacked and bagged at extremely high speeds.
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