In developed and developing countries all over the world, different segments of the hygiene market are seeing or expecting growth. Developed markets like the U.S. and Japan are seeing growth in adult incontinence, while the baby diaper and feminine hygiene markets are expected to see progress in developing countries where disposable incomes are rising, and traditional taboos are being challenged. Thus, producers of hygiene machinery and hygiene packaging machinery are responding to these global trends with new and improved technologies. The following is a look at the latest machinery and services offered from the nonwovens industry’s leading companies. Fameccanica Italian machinery specialist Fameccanica offers a wide range of machinery for hygiene manufacturers producing baby diapers, adult incontinence products and feminine hygiene napkins. Alessandro D’Andrea, Fameccanica’s marketing manager, says the most recent market trends in the adult incontinence segment crave for products with better fit and comfort, while introducing effective cost saving solutions. To meet these needs, Fameccanica has developed adult pant diaper model FIX P5X. The solution is a high speed machine for pull-on protective underwear with a unique technology for in-line processing of breathable, elastic laminated waistband with ultrasonically bonded transpiring spots (a Fameccanica patent) to create a discreet and soft feeling product with maximum fit and comfort. Another key innovation is FIX E3X, a medium-high capacity machine for adult incontinence pant diapers, available for both the ultrasonically bonded film laminate waistband version and the traditional threads waist elasticization version. Further, Fameccanica offers its “BEST” Zero Trim Ear Technology for adult inco, a patented solution for asymmetric Back Ears Sans Trim, that can allow “€-7-digit” estimated saving per year, available on its high capacity machine model FIX P5. Also catering to the incontinence market is the entry-level adult incontinence diaper machine model FIX B2. This model is available in the configuration for the manufacturing of leg shaped or “multipiece” adult incontinence briefs with wide chassis, or can also be configured for both incontinence briefs and bed underpads. In lady and light incontinence, Fameccanica has introduced FNL P12 L.I. for light incontinence pads, with fluff absorbent core, high SAP content and individually wrapped, including electronic repitch technology (a Fameccanica patent) for “elastic foam” application. Fameccanica’s latest achievement in baby diaper machinery technology is the FLS Lamination System for breathable, elastic side panels, which is now achieved using glueless lamination—ultrasonically bonded transpiring spots (a Fameccanica patent). Finally, Paksis D5 is the new medium speed solution for the packaging of baby diapers and training pants at 50 bags per minute, offered by an alliance between Fameccanica and Optima, which gives the option of both manual and automatic bag filling. D’Andrea indicates that all product categories are witnessing business growth in almost every part of the world, while adult incontinence is mostly seeing a surge in Western countries. www.fameccanica.com GDM GDM offers a range of machinery that includes baby diaper lines, training pants machines with direction and cross direction types, sanitary napkins and a full range of incontinence machinery from light to heavy. In 2014, GDM renewed its offerings to respond to its customers’ main needs in terms of production requirements, product design and features. Therefore, the GDM product portfolio was redesigned to focus on: Performance—Prioritizing the overall equipment effectiveness thus decreasing the unitary product cost; Flexibility—Reducing impact of size change activities and easy setting-up; and Scalability—Considering evolution capability of production capacity and product development. “Now, we have more than 50 solutions to satisfy our customers’ needs in terms of product features and business production needs,” says Mr. Daniele Ponzinibbi, GDM marketing director. In 2015, the company launched Option Zero, designed as a program of solutions to maximize raw material savings, to reduce time for size changes and to make production more effective.   Option Zero includes four areas of value generation for GDM’s customers: Zero Waste – Technological and process solutions for the reduction of raw material usage resulting in savings of raw material and products costs; Zero Defects – Solutions to maximize product quality and increasing customer satisfaction; Zero Glue – Hi-Tech solutions for glue reduction or elimination resulting in a minor cost of the product as well as a product of better quality; and Zero Time – Advanced process solutions reducing size change time and elimination of machine stops, resulting in more productivity. “With Option Zero, GDM wanted to enhance customers’ competitive advantage, providing the best solutions ensuring safe operations, minimizing costs and improving throughput,” Ponzinibbi explains. All of the solutions part of the Option Zero program are supplied as an option in GDM’s machine configurations or as an upgrade kit for any existing line. One of the key benefits that GDM can offer, Ponzinibbi says, is that it is a single-source supplier for turnkey solutions, converting and primary packaging, or stand-alone units. “From the original packaging unit SB50, GDM is extending the offering of the stacker and bagger lines allowing our customers to leverage the advantages of a single supplier,” he says. New integrated systems will be capable to stack and bag hygiene disposable products up to 70 cycles/min and will be available for baby diaper lines, training pants, underpad, adult incontinence lines and sanitary napkins. Ponzinibbi says that the hygiene disposable machinery market is growing and hygiene product companies are investing in high quality machinery to respond to this increasing demand. Manufacturers are looking for machinery suppliers to support them with their business expansion considering all possible factors—from geographical areas to market segments. “Since the market is rapidly moving towards more sophisticated products GDM continuously offers advanced technological solutions that help our customers gain competitive advantage among producers,” he says.