Negri Bossi teams up on PPE projects

Milan-based machinery maker Negri Bossi SpA employees and its injection molding machines are part of two efforts to produce personal protective equipment for Italian communities hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For one project, the machinery maker joined forces with other businesses, including Complastic srl, to mold protective glasses and face shields to protect health care workers from the deadly respiratory illness.

Spread by coughing, sneezing and talking, coronavirus quickly made its way to Italy following its initial outbreak in China in late 2019.

Now much of the world is clamoring for PPE in the form of masks, shields, gloves and goggles.

In Italy, Negri Bossi delivered an injection molding machine to Complastic in record time as part of a PPE project funded through an emergency program called Invialia for the Cura Italia.

The death toll in Italy now exceeds 30,560 — the third-highest in the world after the United States and Britain.

Founded in 1984, Complastic operates a 2,000-square-meter plant in the province of Caserta, where it molds thermoplastics for the automotive, food and textile markets.

To join the fight against the spread of COVID-19, Complastic started producing glasses and face shields on its new Negri Bossi machine. The company now has the capacity to produce 2,000 each a day.

Other businesses that participated in the effort were ADM, which made the mold for the glasses; Moretto SpA, which supplied ancillary equipment; AT&Service srl, which provided raw material; and Paper Sun SAS for packaging.

In another call to action, this time from within its own ranks, Negri Bossi is using two injection molding machines to produce thermoplastic rubber face masks. The project was proposed by Molding Manager Ruggero Galbusera and Operations Director Maurizio Seregni, who has been a White Cross volunteer for 20 years.

Negri Bossi staff selected the flexible material because it is comfortable, transparent and can be easily sanitized in boiling water and soap. The company says the masks also have an interchangeable filtering fabric that can be upgraded to a higher level of protection if used with an exhalation valve filter.

For this project, Esistampi made the mold, Francesco Franceschetti Elastomeri and LATI SpA donated plastic material, Ravizza Packaging provided a bagging machine, and Filli & Co. contributed elastic for the masks.

At full capacity, Negri Bossi can produce 500 masks per hour.