Product Description: A toothbrush is an item used to clean the teeth of human beings. In developed countries even horses are provided with their own toothbrushes in which the cleaning is done by people. Before the advent of plastics, most toothbrushes were being made from bamboo and pigs hair. Now tooth brushes are mostly made from synthetic resin and synthetic fiber in which the resins are used for the handles and the nylon mono-filament for the bristles.
Rationale: Toothbrushes are one of the essential items for people. They keep our teeth clean and free from disease causing bacteria which are produced by decaying food remains left in between our teeth. The use of toothbrush is a necessity and taken for granted in developed countries. In our country toothbrushes are used by the majority of people in urban areas, but in rural areas the use of factory made tooth brushes is extremely rare. Some rural people mainly the young use twigs of some plants as toothbrushes. The use of these twigs is not done for keeping the teeth healthy but to make the teeth whiter so they look good. Unfortunately the overwhelming majority of rural people do not use toothbrushes; and the result is decaying teeth and infection by many diseases related with the mouth and the teeth. Many people loose most of their teeth due to lack of proper care for the teeth. One of the functions of public health personnel should have been to teach and convince rural people to use toothbrushes to clean their teeth and to take other measures to keep the teeth clean and healthy. Regrettably more than seventy years after the establishment of the Ministry of Health, basic hygiene education has not reached rural Ethiopia. But better late than never; and we have to make a start. One way to start is to produce toothbrushes here at home.
Market Potential: About 19.2 million people live in the Amhara Region. If all these Ethiopians were living somewhere in Western Europe or North America, they could have owned 19.2 million toothbrushes at a given time. But living here in their own country, they may have about 0.55 million toothbrushes. This is one fourth of the number of people who live in urban centers. The other 18.7 million do not have toothbrushes. All these people are exposed to various types of mouth and tooth diseases which are mainly caused by unclean teeth and mouth. If public awareness is created about the health benefits of using toothbrushes by public health personnel, a huge demand for tooth brushes will be created. And the potential demand is 18.7 million tooth brushes every 4-6 months.
Source of Raw material: to be imported
Process and Technology: The toothbrush making process consists of the following eight stages. Drying of the raw material-resin by hopper dryer; metal mould-the handles are moulded by metal mould attached to the injection moulding machine; annealing-the moulded handles are cooled in water or warm water; separating-the sprue runner on the moulded tooth brush handles is separated; tufting-nylon bristles are tufted on to the toothbrush handles; trimming- the bristles are trimmed in different shapes; hot stamping- brand name, company name, etc. are stamped on the toothbrush; and packaging-product is packaged using different material. Required machinery and equipment include hopper dryer, injection moulding machine, metal mould, automatic extractor for the moulding machine, annealing bath, separating cutter, portable co usher, tafting machine, bristle bundle cutter, trimming machine, hot stamping machine, foil slitter, punching press for blister, high frequency welder.
Estimated Investment: For a plant which will produce about 2.4 million tooth brushes per year, the estimated investment will be:-
Buildings 350m2 at Birr 2000/m2 = Birr 700,000
Machinery …………………………. = Birr 1,500,000
Working capital ………….…………. = Birr 500,000
Total = Birr 2,000,000
Benefit: Contributes to the improvement of health of the people, saves foreign exchange and regional financial resources, and introduces new skills and technology.
Location: Bahir Dar, Combolcha,