European Diapers

[redneck diaper boy]

It seems like the Europeans do their homework when designing incontinence products.

Most of the products, from Europe, appear to be superior to the typical American pharmacy distributed disposable adult diapers.

Does anyone have any idea why? We put men on the moon! NASA probably did some serious research on the space nappy.

One would think we could do better!

[puffybedwetter]

Profit! Since there arent many american adult diaper manufactures that care about the wearer. Its all about quantity for them.

[cruxshadow]

I've heard that American hospitals and care facilities are required to change patients every two hours, so it could be a cost-cutting measure, as the majority of products used would never be filled to anywhere near capacity. American products used to be better, but there has been a trend to make everything thinner, and quieter (even if the technology doesn't permit doing so). It's sad seeing Attends become as thin and useless as Depends.

Speaking of Depend, how is it that they can use "The Best Protection" in their ads? That's a bold faced lie. I got to try the Argentinian Depend a year ago, and it was pretty thick, had thick plastic (that you could hear, but only if you were listening for it,) and it held over twice as much as it's American counterpart. Also noteworthy, it had aloe inside, and was one of the most comfortable diapers I'd ever worn. We get stuck with crap in the states.

[Zander]

Most of the products, from Europe, appear to be superior to the typical American pharmacy distributed disposable adult diapers.

Does anyone have any idea why?

I think It's a cultural choice we tend to have made in this part of the world which has a big impact on the economics over all. Specifically, because we tend to have socialised* healthcare systems in Europe, we don't have the same health-economics and that pretty much explains most of the differences.

The big suppliers here are not forced into a race-to-the-bottom for cutting manufacturing costs with healthcare products - partly because the unit cost is often fairly small when you factor in other issues (distribution, auditing, approval, etc.) and partly because of the economies of scale available when you're buying medical products for millions of people (rather than hundreds) mean you can maintain demand higher standards for the same per-unit cost.

Also, I think the people who source products for European healthcare organisations generally think more about the patients and less about the costs (up to a point) because the costs are not affecting a profit margin or anything else they have much direct concern with. The people making the decisions on medical purchases are not generally the accountants and other bean-counters - they are often registered doctors and clinicians who have worked (and often continue to work with) patients. These people (in bodies like NICE**, who make recommendations on what hospitals should buy and who from) make a call based on their knowledge of the costs and benefits where the monetary cost is smaller weighting in their assessment. Put another way: the people who purchase or invest in the equipment, drugs and consumables are people who know what its like to use this stuff with patients and there is enough flexibility on costs to allow them to consider factors such as patient comfort, effectiveness (e.g. tab strength, durability, etc.) and so on beyond the cost.

With that background set (given the quality of the common, mass-produced and widely used products in hospitals and care-homes is already pretty decent) then any manufacturer wanting to sell outside that market (i.e. direct to consumer) needs to come up with something better to compete. That said, the niche players and small suppliers in both the US and Europe should be pretty close on quality - where cost isn't really a concern to their market.

* -- An analogy here would be to think of this as similar to how American education works before college - you can pay if you want private education but the state provides a 'good' standard for the majority.

** -- As an example, the recommendations for handling faecal incontinence explicitly state "disposable body-worn pads in a choice of styles and designs and disposable bed pads if needed". Hell, you can even see the recommended supply chain options - which suggest Attends, Tena and Ontex (Euron and id) products.

[KrisNdiapers]

Also our (US) health system only makes money if people get sick. I there was a cure for anything we would be the last country to use it. Think if you were sick, but not dieing, they would milk that for all that its worth.

[gah!ghost]

Oh man, don't even get me started on US medical care. It's so depressing. It's a constant struggle for everyone I know in my age range (25-35). We aren't even "poor". Most everyone I know makes 40-100k a year and still struggle with medical costs and fighting insurance companies over paying for anything. I myself make pretty good money and don't have a family to support but my employer doesn't provide any insurance options. My cheapest option is kinda crappy insurance and it's far from cheap enough. I'd both be broke, and still unable to go to the doctor because I couldn't afford the copay.

There are some good less mainstream US companies, I mean even ignoring the ABDL aimed companies isn't Drycare US based? I could be wrong.

[Bettypooh]

Profit! Since there arent many american adult diaper manufactures that care about the wearer. Its all about quantity for them.

I think this sums it up It's a difference in business philosophy. The OP dives a european car, most likely to get a level of quality and engineering you can't get here in US products Over here everything is based on the immediate short-term economics, the rest be dam%ed. The companies that made best-quality products have either fallen to the bottom or altogether failed because greedy investors demanded more profit and overpaid over-rated incompetent CEO's delivered just that- and killed the companies in the long term in so doing Can you imagine Patek Phillipe or Porsche cheapening their products? They certainly could but they won't- the mere thought of that would get you fired if you suggested it openly in their employ. Suggest something like that in the US and you'r seen as some kind of a heroic visionary. And therein lies the difference in how our diapers differ too.

Of recent posting we've seen the Buntewindl (aka ABU) Fabine diaper sell for an astronomical price. Our nearest equivalent is the BHG's Bambinos. Both are excellent top-line diapers, but they're not really aimed at the usual adult diaper market. I see neither company going broke anytime soon. Drop down a level and there are still many good European diapers, but few US-made ones. Drop down a level again and we've got a market full of crap, while Europe has but a relative few crap diapers in comparison. Of the cheap US diapers most are made by a few huge companies while the cheap European ones are made by many more smaller companies.

Big corporate greed drives our big companies, while decent profit and long-term viability drive the European companies. Guess who is better off for that, guess which manufacturing economy is doing better, and guess who is going to win out as best in the end? Hint: It ain't the US

Bettypooh

[shinjie]

_{If you use them, every diaper is you're-a-peein'...*rimshot}

_{Corporate greed is the reason, we still have a lot of good online stuff like Bambino and dry 24/7 and others I can't remember though. I wish more online dealers would carry the fruity asian ones like "Inco" brand which is super soft inside and out even though they sweat pee drops.}