MAKING ACRYLIC SHEETS
Introduction
Acrylic sheet are used in
manufacturing of scales, set square stencils, transparent covers of
instruments, neon and fancy lighting signboards, fancy tables, storage boxes,
floppy diskette, shelves for
audio cassettes and other novelty items. They have good weather resistance with
highly durable optical clarity, high strength-to-weight ratio, good dimensional
stability, good thermo-formability, etc. it costs US$ 103,984 with a capacity
30,000kg annually and estimated revenues are US$ 999 per annum.
Production process
In manufacturing process, a mixture of regenerated and virgin methyl methacrylate monomer is used to effect economy of operation. To obtain the regenerated polymer, the acrylic scrap is heated with certain chemicals to about 4000- 4500 C in a mild steel distillation still placed on a open fire or a furnace and fitted with a condenser and collecting flask. The heating operation results in cracking polymetyl methacrylate into crude methyl methacrylate monomer, which, after vaporizing, gets condensed and is collected in a tank, is redistilled to obtain the pure regenerated monomer. A mixture of the virgin monomer and regenerated monomer is mixed with the desired catalyst of benzyl peroxide and heated. After a desired degree of polymerization, the viscous mass is cooled, mixed with pearl essence colours and poured into moulds. The moulds are filled with prepolymerization mass and heated; finally they are dipped in a hot water bath to complete the polymerization. On complete polymerization, the sheets are cut into required sizes and covered with paper sheets.
Market Analysis
The market is flooded with products
made of acrylic sheets. With some value addition, the acrylic manufacturing
units can generate a lot of demand in urban and rural areas. Some sub-sectors
where
demand could be tapped are the entertainment industry, information
communication technology and outside advertising. This Industry is not yet
established in Uganda.
Capital Investment Requirement in US $
|
Item |
Units |
Qty |
Price |
Total |
|
Acrylic scrap depolmerization unit |
No |
1 |
1,750 |
1,750 |
|
SS distillation still |
No |
2 |
1,250 |
2,500 |
|
Coal fired boiler |
No |
2 |
2,500 |
5,000 |
|
Water storage tanks |
No |
2 |
350 |
700 |
|
Glass sheet moulds |
No |
1 |
1,500 |
1,500 |
|
Acrylic sheet cutter machine |
No |
1 |
750 |
750 |
|
Water circulation pumps |
No |
4 |
500 |
2,000 |
|
Total cost of Machinery & Tools |
14,200 |
1. Production costs assume 312 days per year with daily capacity of 96.2 Sheets.
2. Depreciation (fixed asset write off) assumes 4 year life of assets written off at 25% per year for all assets.
3. Direct costs include materials, supplies and all other costs incurred to produce the product.
4. A production month is 26 days
5. Currency used is US Dollars.
Production and Operating costs in US $
Direct materials, supplies and costs
|
Cost Item |
Unit |
Unit |
Qty |
Prod |
Prod |
Prod |
|
Direct Costs |
||||||
|
Acrylic scrap |
kgs |
50 |
3.21 |
160.26 |
4166.7 |
50,000 |
|
Methyl |
Ltrs |
50 |
0.16 |
8.01 |
208.3 |
2,500 |
|
Benzyl peroxide |
Ltrs |
30 |
0.10 |
2.88 |
75.0 |
900 |
|
calcium chloride |
kgs |
25 |
0.96 |
24.04 |
625.0 |
7,500 |
|
Pearl essence& |
Ltrs |
6 |
0.22 |
1.3 |
35 |
420 |
|
Caustic soda |
Ltrs |
11.5 |
0.13 |
1.5 |
38 |
460 |
|
Stearic acid |
Ltrs |
75 |
0.31 |
23.3 |
605 |
7,254 |
|
Packaging material |
packets |
2 |
3.21 |
6.4 |
167 |
2,000 |
|
Sub-total |
228 |
5,919.5 |
71,034 |
|||
|
General Costs (Overheads) |
||||||
|
Labour |
1,200 |
14,400 |
||||
|
Selling & distribution |
100 |
1,200 |
||||
|
Utilities (Water, power) |
500 |
6,000 |
||||
|
Administration |
100 |
1,200 |
||||
|
Rent |
400 |
4,800 |
||||
|
Miscellaneous expenses |
150 |
1,800 |
||||
|
Depreciation |
296 |
3,550 |
||||
|
Sub-total |
2,746 |
32,950 |
||||
|
Total Operating Costs |
8,665.3 |
103,984 |
Project product costs and Price Structure in US $
|
Item |
Qty/ |
Qty/ |
Unit |
Pdn |
Unit |
Total |
|
Acrylic |
96.2 |
30,000 |
3.47 |
103,984 |
4 |
111,999 |
Profitability Analysis in US $
|
Item |
Per |
Per |
Per year |
|
Revenue |
385 |
10,000 |
111,999 |
|
Less: Production and operating costs |
333 |
8,665 |
103,984 |
|
Profit |
51 |
1,335 |
16,015 |