MANUFACTURING PLASTIC CONTAINERS

• Manufacturing
• Plastics And Polythene

Introduction
This business idea is for manufacturing and marketing of plastic containers. Plastic containers are light-weight, flexible and chemically resistant containers. They can be made in attractive colors which are most popular and are used for household purposes. In most parts of Uganda especially the rural areas,
people use plastic containers because they are very durable. A project to manufacture plastic containers would be very viable since there is good market for the containers in both rural and urban areas. Supply to super markets, retail and whole sellers would help to capture part of the market. The business idea is
premised on manufacturing 10,010 containers in different sizes per month, which translates into 120,120 containers per annum. But output can be increased as demand for the products gets established on the market. The revenue potential is estimated at US$962 per month translating into US$167,544 per annum with a sales margin of 20% and total investment requirement is US$164,386 for the first year of project operation.
Production Process
The injection moulding technique is simple. This is where the molten plastic is conveyed through a cool mould die of desired size and shape. The plastic takes the shape of the mould cavity and is finally removed and polished mechanically.
Market Analysis
Plastic Containers are extensively used in day-to-day activitieswith a solid potential market in both rural and urban areas. The major players include Mukwano Group of Companies, Nice Plastics (U) Ltd, among others.
Capital Investment Requirements in US$

Capital Investment Item	Units	Qty	Unit Cost	Amount
Injexn moulding machine	No	1	4,000	4,000
Oven	No	1	500	500
Scrap grinder	No	1	2,000	2,000
Multi Cavity mould	No	1	1,250	1,250
Hand tools	Set	1	500	500
Weighing machine	No	1	100	100
Delivery Van	No	1	6,000	6,000
Total	14,350

Production and Operating Costs
Direct Materials, Supplies and Costs in US$

Cost Item	Units	Unit cost	Qty/ day	cost/ day	cost/ month	cost/ year
Direct Costs
Polypropylene granules	Kg	1.5	200	300	7,800	93,600
Colours/ dyes	Kg	0.75	100	75	1,950	23,400
Packing Materials	Kg	0.5	8	4	104	1,248
Sub-total	300	375	9,750	118,248
General Costs(Overheads)
Rent	250	3,000
Labour	1,750	21,000
Utilities (Water & power)	150	1,800
Preliminary costs	100	1,200
Miscellaneous Costs	100	1,200
Depreciation (Asset write off)	299	3,588
Sub-total	2,649	31,788
Total Operating Costs	12,399	150,036

1.      Production costs assumed are for 312 days per year with a daily capacity of 385 plastic containers.
2. Depreciation (fixed asset write off) assumes 4 years life of assets written off at _25% per year for all assets.
3. Direct Costs include: materials, supplies and other costs that directly go into production of the product.

2.      4. A production month is assumed to have 26 work days.
Project Product Cost and Price Structure in US$

Item	Qty/ day	Qty/ Yr	Unit cost	Pdn cost/Yr	Unit price	T/rev
Plastic Containers	358	111,696	1.3	150,036	1.5	167,544

Profitability Analysis in US$

Profitability Item	Per day	Per Month	Per Yr
Revenue	537	13,962	167,544
Less: Production and Operating Costs	481	12,503	150,036
Profit	56	1,459	17,509

Source of Supply of Equipments and Rawmaterials
Raw materials can be imported from India and South Africa while Equipments can be imported from China and Japan.
Incentives
Government has put up Organizations like Private Sector Foundation Uganda which serve as a channel through which subsidies and free advisory services are given to serious investors.