1. Product description: Hospital beds, stretchers, wheel chairs sand other furniture are made form metal bars usually mild steel or iron and mostly they are electroplated. This furniture is essential for the complete operations of health are institutions.
2. Market Potential: The number of health care institutions in the Amhara region is increasing from year to year. Now every woreda (there are more than 102 of them) in the region has at least one clinic and a number of health posts and the region has more than seven hospitals. However, all the furniture used in the health care institutions are either imported from Addis Ababa or abroad. But producing hospital beds, stretchers and wheel chairs is a simple operation and only requires a few sets of machines. Give this it is possible to produce these products in the region. The market for these products in the region could be sufficient to absorb the production of a small plant. The plant could produce other household and office furniture in case the demand for hospital beds does not fully occupy the production time of the plant.
TRENDS IN NO OF AVAILABLE HOSPITAL BEDS
Source: IPS: Socio Economic Survey Report for Addis Ababa; 2007
SUPPLY GAP IN BASIC HEALTH SERVICES
Source: IPS: Socio Economic Survey Report for Addis Ababa; 2007.
3. Source of Raw Material: The metal product from which the furniture will be produced will be mostly imported.
Process and Technology: Like all other metal fabrication operations, production of hospital beds, stretchers and wheel chairs involves cutting, welding, fixing or joining and painting or electroplating. Main machines required include shearing machine, welding machine, painting or election plating machine, etc.
Estimated investment: For a plant which can produce about 1000 pieces per year, the estimated investment will be
Fixed capital 1,700,000
Working capital 500,000
2,200,000
Benefit: Promotes self sufficiency, facilitates the provision of health care services in the region, and saves regional financial resources.
7. Location: Gonder, Bahir Dar, Combolcha