Conference Speakers

Dragging Innovation Down: The Impact of Outdated Tests

Both disposable absorbent hygiene products (AHP') and some of their components, including SAP, suffer from a lack of innovation due to the reliance of the industry, particularly retail outlets, on outdated tests that were developed for materials and products as long as 35 years ago. Many of those tests were developed during the infancy of the disposable hygiene products market and were primarily designed for quality control. While R&D tests may be present in supplier networks, the barriers of the established tests remain. This is particularly damaging as most of those tests have no correlation to product performance. Perhaps it is time to evaluate better principles for testing disposable AHP's and to think of approaches that might better correlate to expensive consumer use tests.

Fundamentals of Absorption Systems and Opportunities in Adult Incontinence

This unique workshop will provide attendees an overall view of the basic concepts of absorption systems used in disposable hygiene products, focusing on the components and interaction of the absorption system: SAP, Fluff, Adhesives, and Acquisition Layers. Attendees will have the opportunity to evaluate SAP absorption for different SAP’s, identify the presence of adhesives, and deconstruct and examine several hygiene products including infant, adult, and feminine hygiene products to increase their understanding of these systems.

•     Take away new knowledge of the key raw materials used in absorbent hygiene cores for baby, adult and period products.

•     Understand how hygiene cores interact to provide efficient fluid management

•     Apply product concepts to develop new hygiene solutions

•     Attend and gain a preliminary understanding of ideas and concepts used for absorbent cores in the consumer hygiene product space. You’ll discover the benefits and role of individual core components used to help provide efficient dry management of human fluids.

•     Learn the functions of fluff pulp, super absorbent polymer (SAP), acquisition and distribution layer (ADL) and adhesives from a material systems approach.

•     Review new testing concepts that provide insight into the fluid management of cores along with concepts from traditional fluff and SAP cores to fluffless concepts.

Designed for professionals in the hygiene space or consumer hygiene products involved with:

•     Raw materials

•     Engineering

•     R&D

•     Technical sales and marketing

•     Manufacturing

•     Product development

•     Quality control

Separate Fee Required