Last month I was invited along to the Pampers Factory in Manchester along with a some other bloggers for a very hush hush day about Pampers Innovation and a tour of the factory where all the nappies for the UK are made – this was a pretty big deal, as you can imaging they’re rather protective of their production line (more on that in a bit).
I started the day at 5am to make my train to Manchester, however being Boo free any tiredness was cancelled out by the luxury of being able to enjoy breakfast and a magazine on the train in peace and quiet – a rare treat for any mummy!
It’s crazy to think the last time I was in Manchester was back in June 2012 when me and Boo appeared on BBC Breakfast for the second time – mental note: really must plan a weekend in Manchester, I’m certain there’s way more to it than Media City and train stations and I have a feeling I may rather like it.
The Pampers nappy plant in Manchester has been established for 80 years with Pampers being produced there since 1991, we kicked off the day with a fascinating talk by Dr Frank Wisemann, who spoke about the history of disposable nappies and the processes that take place with nappy development – did you know that it can take up to 10 years of research, design and testing at the Pampers Research and Design centre in Schwalbach to bring a new nappy to the market – meaning over 1,500 babies testing their nappies every week with a staggering 45,000 nappy changes – and I thought 2 hourly changes in the early days was tough!
After a delicious lunch (I’m seriously jealous of their canteen if our lunch was anything to go by!) it was time for a tour of the factory floor, something that is very rarely seen by outsiders. Suited (high vis) and booted (steel toe cap boots) we made our way onto the busy and extremely loud factory floor to see how Pampers nappies are made. There are 20+ raw material components in each nappy and it takes less than 4 seconds for these to made into the finished product, helping them to produce more than 5 million nappies a day!
I’ve been brand loyal to Pampers since Boo was born only ever trying another brand once (as in one nappy) and hating them and it’s no surprise that every day over 3,200 manufactured nappies are randomly selected for product quality tests, and their standards are pretty high with those that don’t make the grade being rubbished – ready to be recycled back down to the raw components.
After our tour we also got the chance to chat with Dr Ellie Cannon from the Pampers Love, Sleep & Play panel of experts about the importance of a good nights sleep for our little ones.
Me and Dr Ellie Cannon
Pampers is a brand that had me at hello back in July 2011 (they after all were the only ones how made nappies small enough for Boo) and even as Boo nears the end of the road with nappies I’m still excited as a parent to try out the new innovations that will be hitting the shops later this year.
