Entrepreneurship

(ENT)

Project Report

Topic- Success Story of Arunachalam Muruganantham

Submitted to

Dr. H. Gayathri
Deputy - Director & Professor - Marketing

Submitted by

Group-7

Anirudh Thulasi M 17003

Dichin Sunder 17110

Date of Submission: 25th January 2019

Batch: 2017-19
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
About Arunachalam Muruganantham ................................................................................................ 1
About Jayashree Industries ................................................................................................................. 2
Vision of Muruganantham ...................................................................................................................... 2
Muruganantham’s model ....................................................................................................................... 2
Invention ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Study Based on Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 5
Type of Creativity ................................................................................................................................ 5
Creative Process .................................................................................................................................. 5
Key Elements of Entrepreneurship ..................................................................................................... 6
Muruganantham as a successful Entrepreneur .................................................................................. 7
Muruganantham’s Characteristics as an entrepreneur ...................................................................... 8
Risks Taken by Muruganantham ......................................................................................................... 8
Financials about low-cost sanitary napkin producing machinery installation project ........................... 9
Awards and Achievements.................................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 12
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Introduction
One Indian social entrepreneur has given women from low income groups in India dignity, by
making it possible for them to afford to buy sanitary towels and provide them with an income
at the same time. Arunachalam Murugananthamis the person who changed things. From a poor
background in the South of India, he created the world’s first low-cost machine to produce
sanitary towels. According to a report by market research group AC Nielsen, “Sanitary Protec-
tion: Every Woman’s Health Right”, 88% of women in India are driven to use ashes, newspa-
pers, sand husks and dried leaves during their periods. Because of these unhygienic practices,
more than 70% of women suffer from reproductive tract infections, increasing the risk of con-
tracting associated cancers.

Mr. Muruganantham has been accorded the recognition as Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influ-
ential People in the World 2014 for his accomplishments. He is in the company of the likes
of Narendra Modi, Barack Obama, Serena Williams, Ronaldo, Xi Jinping, Jeff Bezos, Malala,
Shinzo Abe, Beyonce, Putin, Arundhati Roy, Hilary Clinton etc., to name a few of the 100.

About Arunachalam Muruganantham

Arunachalam Muruganantham (Padman) (born 1962) is a social entrepreneur from Coimba-

tore in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad-making machine and
is credited for innovating grassroots mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional
unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India. His mini-machines, which can manu-
facture sanitary pads for less than a third of the cost of commercial pads, have been installed
in 27 of the 29 states of India. He is currently planning to expand the production of these ma-
chines to 106 nations.

Muruganantham was born in 1962 to S. Arunachalam and A. Vanita, who were hand-loom
weavers in Coimbatore, India. Muruganantham grew up in poverty after his father died in a
road accident. His mother worked as a farm laborer to help in his studies. However, at the age
of 14, he dropped out of school. He supplied food to factory workers and took up various jobs
as a machine tool operator, yam-selling agent, farm laborer, and welder, to support his family.

Muruganantham has obtained a patent for his innovation Over 225 such machines have been
delivered which are now functioning in 14 states of India also he is getting enquiry by various
countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya Uganda, Nepal and Bangladesh, but he does not want
to make it a commercial affair though only the technology would be passed on to them.

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About Jayashree Industries

Muruganantham re-engineered a sanitary machine, and in 2006 it won the award for the best
innovation for the betterment of society from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. Plus,
he also received an Indian presidential award for innovation. He started the Jayashree Industries
in the year 2006 at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Currently more than 1300 machines made by his
start-up company and, are installed across 27 states in India and seven other countries. This
social entrepreneur sells his low-cost machines directly to rural women through the support of
bank loans and not-for-profit organisations. A machine operator can learn the entire towel-
making process in three hours and then employ three others to help with processing and distri-
bution. The start-up company installs and helps set up the small-scale machinery for Sanitary
Pad Production and strives for Women employment and Women health.

Vision of Muruganantham
Muruganantham says, “creating one Million livelihoods for poor women and making India as
100 % sanitary napkin using country from current level of only 2% in rural also it will generate
employment for one million women. No one is bothered about uneducated and illiterate people.
Through this model, they can live with dignity.”

Muruganantham’s model
Sanitary napkins produced in a “Small is Beautiful” model can deliver livelihood, hygiene and
dignity to poor women, and help them strengthen society.

 Builds a viable and sustainable enterprise that can be run efficiently by the stakehold-
ers at the grassroots.
 Delivers an essential commodity – the sanitary napkin – to poor women at affordable
rates without compromising on the raw material used (which is not the unviable cot-
ton) or quality of the product as compared to the multinationals. This is an extremely
crucial development and can be viewed as a breakthrough in positive social engineer-
ing.
 Reduces the players involved in the supply chain – the third person to handle the
product (from its inception) is the consumer.
 Thereby makes optimal use of the micro-credit generated by a community.

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The technology used is simple and non-chemical. In fact, the machine uses purely mechanical
processes such as grinding and de-fibration, pressing and sealing to convert the raw material –
high-quality pine wood pulp – into a napkin.

Overall, the sanitary napkin-making machine is Muruganantham’s first attempt at harnessing

technology for the benefit of the underprivileged. Once the organization achieves its current
goals to expand and propagate its invention, it would refocus to its core competency – inventing
the Next Big Thing.

What problem or issue does the idea address?

o Millions of women around the world cannot afford sanitary napkins, mainly because
they’re manufactured using expensive machinery and thus priced at a premium. Such
women resort to an older and cheaper alternative – a piece of cloth or rag. This is an
unhygienic alternative and can cause vaginal infections, skin irritations and embarrass-
ing stains in public. But by reducing the unit price of a napkin, Muruganantham’s model
enables women to switch over to napkins – dignity must never be unaffordable.
o A light-weight and voluminous product like the sanitary napkin introduces high trans-
portation cost. This model allows local production and thus solves the problem.
o Muruganantham’s model addresses the issue of rampant unemployment amongst the
poor in rural, urban and semi-urban areas of all developing nations.
o Overall, Muruganantham’s model offers livelihood, hygiene, dignity and empower-
ment to women all over the world. And it does so use a sustainable business framework.

Invention
In 1998, He married Shanthi. Shortly after, Murugananthan discovered his wife collecting
filthy rags and newspapers to use during her menstrual cycle, as sanitary napkins made by mul-
tinational corporations were expensive. Troubled by this, he started designing experimental
pads. Initially, he made pads out of cotton, but these were rejected by his wife and sisters.
Eventually, they stopped co-operating with him and refused to be the test subjects for his inno-
vations. He realised that the raw materials cost ₹10 (14¢ US), but the end product sold for 40
times that price. He looked for female volunteers who could test his inventions, but most were
too shy to discuss their menstrual issues with him. He started testing it on himself, using a
bladder with animal blood, but became the subject of ridicule when the "sanitary pad" was
discovered in his village. As menstruation was a taboo subject in India, it left him ostracized

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by his community and family. He distributed his products free to girls in a local medical col-
lege, hoping that they would give him feedback.

It took him two years to discover that the commercial pads used cellulose fibers derived
from pine bark wood pulp. The fibres helped the pads absorb while retaining shape. Imported
machines that made the pads cost ₹35 million (US$490,000). He devised a low-cost machine
that could be operated with minimal training. He sourced the processed pine wood pulp from
a supplier in Mumbai, and the machines would grind, de-fibrate, press and sterilize the pads
under ultraviolet light before packaging them for sale. The machine costs ₹65,000 (US$900).

Figure 1 Mr. Muruganatham demonstrating process involved in Low-cost sanitary napkin producing machine

In 2006, he visited IIT Madras to show his idea and receive suggestions. They registered his
invention for the National Innovation Foundation's Grassroots Technological Innovations
Award; it won the award. He obtained seed funding and founded Jayaashree Industries, which
now markets these machines to rural women across India. The machine has been praised for
its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, and his commitment to social aid has earned him several
awards. Despite offers from several corporate entities to commercialize his venture, he has re-
fused, and continues to provide these machines to self-help groups (SHGs) run by women.

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 Figure 2 Sanitary napkin producing machine before Mr. Muruganatham’s invention

Muruganantham's invention is widely praised as a key step in changing women's lives in In-
dia. The machine creates jobs and income for many women, and affordable pads enable many
more women to earn their livelihood during menstruation. In addition to his own outreach,
Muruganantham's work has also inspired many other entrepreneurs to enter this area, including
some who propose to use waste banana fibre or bamboo for the purpose.

Study Based on Theoretical Framework

Following are the theoretical framework applied. The analysis and description are mentioned
corresponding to each framework is mentioned under each category itself. Type of creativity,
creative process, key elements of entrepreneurship, risks associated, characteristics, etc of the
Mr. Muruganatham as an entrepreneur are discussed in detail.

Type of Creativity

The idea of sanitary napkin is there, and the product is available in the market. The product is
priced high which is the reason its not affordable for the lower category of the society. So, as
a team, we thought this invention of low-cost sanitary napkin production is a creative replica-
tion of existing concept. That is a kind of duplication strategy is followed through-out the pro-
cess of invention and execution. The changes made by Mr. Muruganantham is particularly on
size of product and the process of manufacturing.

Creative Process

Preparation –

In this stage, Mr. Muruganantham recognised the problem that is faced by the women
in his family. The family need to compromise on several things to manage the price of
sanitary napkins.

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Incubation –

He started researching on the sanitary napkin related to the material and packaging. He
researched several multinational companies during 2000’s to understand various pro-
cess involved in the manufacturing of sanitary napkins. After acquiring some basic
knowledge, he started to experiment the products on himself.

Insight –

He thought about the manufacturing part of sanitary napkin after the first round of ex-
periments. In fact, those experiments gave him the impression that manufacturing plays
a critical role in the quality of the product. So, he started investing money on the ma-
chines and production set-up. This was the foundation laid by him for the low-cost
sanitary napkin producing machine development.

Evaluation –

In the initial stages he received the help of his wife to test the product. But the product
failed miserably for several times and wife showed disagreement to become a part of
his experiments. Then he himself evaluated the products with the help of artificial blad-
der and animal blood. Once the product is reached some significant amount of quality,
he asked the help of medical students and that was the turning point in his life. He freely
distributed the products to them and received fair amount of feedback. Based on this,
he made some further developments in the product side and process side until the prod-
uct is ready for proper usage.

Elaboration –

Once the end-product is ready for proper usage, he patented the manufacturing process
and machine. This gave him the opportunity to make the product for commercialisation.
But he came up with the enterprise plan and its operational procedures. That is why he
started Jayashree Industries, which sells and install this low-cost manufacturing ma-
chine. His vision is to empowering women by providing employment and health.

Key Elements of Entrepreneurship

Following are the key elements of entrepreneurship and the corresponding description.

 Opportunity: He saw an opportunity to help his wife and sisters which turned into a
large-scale opportunity

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  Resources: He could source raw materials from local vendors at very low cost compared
to multinational companies

 Organisation: He started Jayaashree industries which fit perfectly for his cause and is
proper execution of his idea

 Environment: This included all naysayers from his village and also his non-supporting
family around him

 Design Leader: This is himself, his idea and his risk-taking propensity

Muruganantham as a successful Entrepreneur

Passion for business –

Mr. Muruganatham have the passion to start his own business and make his family in a
good financial position. The low-cost sanitary napkin producing will be the right op-
portunity and he invested time and money to reach the current position.

Product/Customer focus –

He did not want to compromise on the quality of the product as well as the customer
satisfaction. So, he gave equal importance to both the product and customer. He asks
for feedback from the customer to check the product is doing the job or does the product
requires any further changes.

Tenacity despite failure –

He has been boycotted from his village for the kind of research and experiments he had
done. He failed in the initial stages of sanitary napkin production. He struggled in his
family life. He got refused by the users to test the product. Despite all the above inci-
dents and many more are there, he motivated himself and that is the reason for inventing
low-cost sanitary napkin producing machine.

Execution Intelligence –

He denied the idea of commercialising his invention. He started Jayashree Industries

for installing the low-cost sanitary napkin producing machine. He goes to the places for
installing the machine and provide training. The production of sanitary napkins is done
and distributed by the women itself. The third person in the supply chain will be the
customer.

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Muruganantham’s Characteristics as an entrepreneur

 Risk-taking Propensity- Mr. Muruganatham know about the risks that are associated
before he started to invest in producing low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturing ma-
chine. But he understood the importance of the product and took the risk for a good
cause.
 Experimenting – He experimented the product on himself with the help of artificial
bladder and animal blood shows us how much experimenting he was. He developed the
low-cost sanitary producing machine on a trial and error basis. So that he have to do
several experiments until he finds the best solution.
 Innovative – His thought of low-cost sanitary napkin itself an innovative idea because
the price of those were very high before his invention. He also developed a new manu-
facturing machine and process. This shows how innovative he is and converting his
innovative idea into reality.
 Patience – Despite of several failures in his experiments, wrong selection of raw mate-
rials, no user turning up to test the product, miserable family atmosphere, boycotted
from village and so on, he showed the patience and is the reason for his success.
 Passionate – He was very much passionate about inventing the low-cost sanitary napkin
producing machine. Muruganatham had the enthusiasm for being the first one in the
world for decreasing the number of process involved while manufacturing sanitary nap-
kin. He also passionate about executing his idea and there by empowering women.
 Basic Financial Knowledge – He had basic financial knowledge which was the key in
managing the funds while he was inventing the machine. This also helped him to man-
age the start-up company, Jayashree Industries, which was started by him.

Risks Taken by Muruganantham

 Financial Risk – He invested everything he had saved into his venture that is producing
the 1st batch cotton based sanitary Pads.
 Career Risk – He left his other jobs/Occupation to pursue his aim that is to produce
affordable sanitary pad.
 Social Risk – Because of the experiments which he conducted on himself with artifi-
cial goat bladder and goat blood he used to smell, and the entire village boycotted him
for his perverted-ness.
 Health Risk – Putting all his energy to develop the machine for nearly 16hrs a day for
4 years is not an easy job this carries a lot of health risks.

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Financials about low-cost sanitary napkin producing machinery installa-
tion project

Plant and Machinery Coast Break-Up

Sl.No Description Unit Rate Total
1 De-fiberation Machine 1 ₹ 26,800.00 ₹ 26,800.00
2 Soft touch sealing Machine 2 ₹ 28,000.00 ₹ 56,000.00
3 Belt napkin Making machine Length sealing. 1 ₹ 20,500.00 ₹ 20,500.00
4 Belt napkin making machine side sealing 1 ₹ 17,500.00 ₹ 17,500.00
5 Pneumatic core forming machine 1 ₹ 65,500.00 ₹ 65,500.00
6 Pneumatic Core Dies 2 ₹ 1,875.00 ₹ 3,750.00
7 U V Treat Unit 1 ₹ 10,400.00 ₹ 10,400.00
VAT 14.5% ₹ 29,065.00
Packing and Handling charges ₹ 2,500.00
Installation and Training Fees ₹ 5,000.00
Total ₹ 2,37,015.00

Raw Material Cost Breakup

Sl.No Raw Material Unit Value (Rs)
1 Wood Pulp 12.8 Kgs ₹ 742.00
2 Top Layer 400 Mts ₹ 672.00
3 Back Layer 750 Grams ₹ 187.00
4 Gum 1.5 Kg ₹ 225.00
5 Packing Covers 150 Nos ₹ 225.00
Total ₹ 2,051.00

Other Accessories
Sl.No Items Nos Value (Rs)
1 Weighing Scale (To Weigh Wood Pulp) 1 ₹ 3,000.00
2 Work Table 2 ₹ 2,000.00
3 Plastic Buckets and Trays 5 ₹ 500.00
Total ₹ 5,500.00

Workers Required and Cost Breakup

Sl.No Workers Nos Salary (Rs.)
1 Semi-Skilled Labourers 6 Workers ₹ 30,000.00
(Daily Wages Rs.200 Per Day)

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Monthly Administrative Expenses

Sl.No Expenses Value (Rs)

1 Rent ₹ 1,000.00
2 Electricity Bill ₹ 1,500.00
3 General Administrative Expenses ₹ 1,000.00
Total ₹ 3,500.00

Price Fixing
Details Retail Price Whole Sale Price
₹
a. Raw Material per Napkin Packet 10.25
₹
b. Wastage 0.30
₹
c. Cost Per Napkin Packet 10.55
₹
d. Add Our Profit 110 % 11.45 ₹ 9.45 90%
₹
e. Maximum Retail Price per Packet 22.00 ₹ 20.00

Sales Per-month Break-up

Details in Rs.
Value Of per Day required Raw Material 2051 x 25
One Month (25 Working Days) ₹ 51,275.00
Per Day Napkin Production 200 Packets
One Month (24 Working Days) 25 x 200 = 5,000 Pkts
Per Packet Whole Sale Price ₹ 20.00
Value of One Month Production 5,000 X 20.00
One Month Sales ₹ 1,10,000.00
Less: One Month Raw Material Expense ₹ 51,275.00
Total Profit ₹ 58,725.00
Labour Charge – Less from profit ₹ 30,000.00
Administrative Expenses – Less from profit ₹ 3,500.00
Net Profit per Month ₹ 25,225.00

Profit Margin on One Month Total Raw Material

Value 50%

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Total Investment
Sl.No Investment Details Value (Rs)
1 Advance for working Place ₹ 25,000.00
2 Machineries, Installation and training fees ₹ 2,40,000.00
3 Other Accessories ₹ 3,500.00
4 Running Capital for Two Months ₹ 95,875.00
5 SSI Registration and Other Admin Expense ₹ 3,71,375.00
Total ₹ 7,35,750.00

Net Profit per Year (Rs)

Profit per Month 25,225
Per Year profit 25,225 x 12 3,02,700

Interest for total investment @ 14 % (A) 51992

Depreciation of Machineries 10% (B) 25,000
(A+B) 76,992

Net Profit Per year 3,02,700

-76,992
Profit 2,25,708

Profit margin on Total Investment = 60%

Awards and Achievements

 He has won National Innovation Foundation's Grassroots Technological Innovations
Award from IIT Madras in 2006
 Muruganantham for his accomplishments and well-deserved recognition as Time Mag-
azine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2014.
 In 2016, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
 He was awarded “Jewel of Coimbatore” by Rotary Coimbatore metropolis this award
earlier received by Management Guru C.K. Prahalad.
 He has delivered Speech in the U.N Conference
 He has Given Ted Talk
 He gives Guest Lectures at IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and Harvard
University
 1 Documentary Film (Menstrual man) and 2 Films (Phullu and Pad Man) are created
based on his life Story.

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Conclusion
Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham has constantly strived for social benefit and cause and in
the way, he has also made sizeable profits from his venture. Through this Person’s life we can
understand that no matter what circumstances we are in we will be able to come out of it
through hard work and passion. Bravery and certain amount of risk is required to do and come
up in life.
This person displayed to us that no matter what life will appear very hard it is up to us whether
to take it easily or face it with difficulty. He has been an inspiration to many new age entrepre-
neurs through his work. The Model adopted by him was very simple and easy to implement.

Bibliography
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https://www.thecasecentre.org/students/products/view?id=129268
Arunachalam Muruganantham: A Social Entrepreneur Innovating in a Woman’s World. (n.d.).
Retrieved from oikos-international: https://oikos-international.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/06/2015_SE_free-case_Arunachalam_case.pdf
Case Study: The Game Changer From Pappanaicken Pudur. (n.d.). Retrieved from business world:
http://www.businessworld.in/article/Case-Study-The-Game-Changer-From-Pappanaicken-
Pudur/08-11-2014-75434/
Jayashree Industries. (n.d.). Retrieved from Jayashree Industries: http://newinventions.in
Meet Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man who wore a sanitary pad to break a taboo. (n.d.).
Retrieved from The Economic Times : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-
and-nation/meet-arunachalam-muruganantham-the-man-who-wore-a-sanitary-pad-to-break-a-
taboo/padman-is-here/slideshow/58340285.cms
The real Padman: How A Muruganantham launched a sanitary napkin revolution in India. (n.d.).
Retrieved from first post: https://www.firstpost.com/living/the-real-padman-how-a-
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