Fully automated solution to profitability for a novel period care product

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Callaly is a UK company that has developed and now produces a new type of feminine hygiene product, invented by a gynaecologist, that is a "hybrid" tampon and pantyliner. The innovative product, called a Tampliner, combines the best features of both products and specifically relies on a patented innovative thin "sleeve" that enables the tampon to be hygienically used and disposed of. Callaly is the recipient of Innovate UK grant funding to research and develop the Tampliner design and production process.Callaly established UK based manufacturing of the Tampliner last year. The business sells the products directly to women and all people with periods over the internet. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee, then can select their own personal choice of product (i.e. flow rate, Tampliners, pads or tampons) and their order is mailed to them every month. This approach has proven to be very popular with customers, at present the team has a growing subscriber/consumer base of over 6,000 subscribers.The current manufacturing process is a mix of semi auto assembly and manual packaging which were designed and implemented to prove the product market fit which Callaly has successfully done since launch. In order to achieve a step change in the optimisation of the manufacturing process there is a requirement to develop and implement a fully automated production and packaging process that will drastically reduce the labour cost (88%) enabling Callaly to command a very competitive position in the period care market.Callaly is seeking a loan to invest in the development of an advanced fully automated Tampliner manufacturing and packaging process in collaboration with world leading British bespoke automation developers. The new system will make use of high-tech assembly and vision guided robotic processes while also revolutionising the way manufacturing supply chain reacts to online customer orders by developing industry 4.0 capabilities in the new systems. This investment will also have the added benefit of removing the need for a layer of plastic packaging and reducing the total amount of packaging waste.