Plastics firms work to fill shortage of masks and other protective equipment

Manufacturers are scrambling to keep up with production of plastics-based personal protective equipment (PPE) for the medical market as the impact of coronavirus grows.

Many smaller manufacturers are stepping up to fill the gap created by overwhelming demand being placed on global suppliers such as 3M Co., Honeywell International Inc. and DuPont Co. 3M and Honeywell are major producers of N95 medical masks which have several plastic parts. DuPont makes Tyvek-brand polyethylene film, which is used in surgical gowns and containment suits.

N95 respirators are tight-fitting respirators that filter out at least 95 percent of particles in the air, including large and small particles. The masks provide respiratory protection and reduce the wearer's exposure to airborne particles, from small particle aerosols to large droplets.

Starting in late January, Minneapolis-based 3M has doubled its global output rate of N95 masks to almost 100 million per month, Chairman and CEO Mike Roman said in a statement. 3M's production total includes 35 million made in the U.S., with more than 90 percent of those designated for health care workers. The remaining masks will go to energy, food and pharmaceutical companies.

Last week, 3M sent more than 500,000 N95 masks from its plant in Aberdeen, S.D., to New York and Seattle, two areas heavily impacted by COVID-19. Roman said 3M is ready to expedite additional shipments across the country.

3M also makes N95 masks at plants in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The firm is operating at maximum production for those products and has accelerated investments to expand global capacity. Roman said 3M expects to nearly double its capacity again — to almost 2 billion — within the next 12 months.

3M also on March 24 announced plans to work with Ford Motor Co. and GE Healthcare to make N95 masks at a Ford plant in Redford Township, Mich. Ford will use fans from F-150 pickup seats, portable tool battery packs and 3D printed parts to assemble the respirators, officials said.

Ford said it initially would be able to make up to 1,000 respirators per month, helping 3M boost production of the respirators. Ford also plans to produce up to 100,000 face shields per week, also in Michigan. Roughly 75,000 of these shields are expected to be finished this week, and more than 100,000 face shields per week will be produced at Ford subsidiary Troy Design & Manufacturing's facilities in Plymouth, Mich.

According to an N95 specification sheet on the 3M website, five of the six main components of the mask use some type of plastic. Its straps are made from thermoplastic elastomers, the nose foam is polyurethane and the filter is polypropylene fiber. The mask's shell and coverweb both are made of polyester. The shelf life of the 3M N95 mask is five years from the date of manufacture.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell also is expanding global production of N95 medical masks. The firm has begun a major expansion of mask production at a plant in Smithfield, R.I.

Honeywell expects a new mask production line in Smithfield to create at least 500 jobs. Recruiting, hiring and training manufacturing workers will begin immediately.

"We are honored to support the U.S. government's efforts to protect Americans with personal protective equipment made right here in the United States," Chairman and CEO Darius Adamczyk said in a March 22 news release.

"Our Rhode Island facility already produces industry-leading safety gear and soon will play a critical role in supplying the Strategic National Stockpile with N95 masks," he added.

Masks made in Smithfield will be delivered to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for use to support health, safety and emergency response workers. Honeywell also has increased production of the masks at other manufacturing sites around the world.

Health care giant Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio, also has been impacted by the PPE shortage. The firm has gone to inventory allocation for its PPE inventory, according to a posting on its website.

"Like many in the industry, we depend heavily on production in China for a number of products in our PPE portfolio, including isolation gowns, caps & shoe covers, and facial protection," officials said. "Given industry-wide supply challenges, we proactively placed these PPE products and select exam gloves on allocation to protect inventory for existing customers based on recent historical demand."

"We are building more robust contingency plans with our existing suppliers, aggressively exploring new sourcing partners outside of China, and assessing capabilities and capacity within our own manufacturing network to increase production," they added.

At Wilmington, Del-based DuPont, the firm has significantly increased production of the most requested Tyvek garments. The firm's Tyvek production sites include a plant in Spruance, Va., and a garment plant in South Carolina.

"Our top priority is effectively managing the distribution of our PPE to meet the needs of frontline responders, the government, and all others engaged in the response to COVID-19," global personal protection business director David Domnisch said in an email. "We have significantly increased production of the most requested Tyvek and Tychem garments. Thousands of employees are working around the world to make this happen."

He added that DuPont is using 19 garment production facilities in nine countries to deliver more than 9 million garments per month. These garments are being supplied through government agencies and commercial distribution channels in support of the COVID-19 response.

"In some cases, we are shipping product using air freight in collaboration with key government agencies, to get PPE to the frontline responders as fast as possible," Domnishc said. "Under normal freight conditions supply would be filled in 2-3 months but through air freight it can arrive in a few days."

Even before the outbreak in the United States, DuPont announced in January that it will invest more than $75 million to modernize and expand manufacturing and technology at the Spruance plant.

The challenge of meeting unprecedented demand for PPE products possibly is being heightened by complicated medical supply chains, medical market veteran Peter Schmitt said. According to 3M's N95 spec sheet, its masks are "made in the USA with globally sourced materials."

"The market doesn't always recognize the complexity of the supply chain," Schmitt said in a phone interview. "These supply chains are vital, but I think in the case of PPE, they were accustomed to order cycles of 90 or 120 days. If it's your turn, you can't just ramp up your order."

In recent years, according to Schmitt, many medical suppliers have refocused their supply chains outside of the U.S. In the case of N95 masks, Schmitt said that companies "might be getting the filters from one country and the straps from another."

Schmitt, managing director of Montesino Associates LLC in Wilmington, Del., added that just-in-time inventory strategies and a need to hit profit targets might have played a role in medical facilities having low numbers of PPE products on hand when the outbreak hit.

Before the outbreak, the market for medical devices and packaging "had been in great shape," Schmitt said.

According to a report released in early 2019 by Indian consulting firm 360 Market Updates, the global N95 medical masks market was valued at $770 million in 2018 and was projected to reach $1.16 billion by the end of 2025, for an annual growth rate of more than 5 percent.

Other firms with PPE projects underway include:

• Sheet extruder Primex Plastics Corp. of Richmond, Ind., has been working with Reid Health of Richmond and local medical providers to find a way to add protection and to allow the repeated use of N95 masks, officials said on LinkedIn. They've designed the Primex Protect faceshield. Production efforts have begun, with a goal of starting distribution to medical facilities by March 30.

• TradeWinds Services, a manufacturer focused on employing disabled people in Merrillville, Ind., is increasing production of disposable masks and gowns. CEO Jon Gold told a local newspaper that the shift is one step the firm can take to sustain its own business in uncertain times and give back to the community.

TradeWinds was already producing items made of a similar PP material. The firm now is expecting to make as many as 50,000 masks and gowns per month.

• Genesis Plastics of Greeley, Colo., has begun making plastic face shields. The firm designed and built a prototype in a matter of days after being contacted by plastics veteran Noel Ginsburg, who is heading Colorado's PPE task force. "The face shield seemed to be the best way for us to help immediately," sales manager Jake Comer told a local newspaper.

Genesis usually makes packaging and other medical products, but had not previously made a face shield. The firm now is equipped to make more than 50,000 shields per day, working in part with local 3D printing companies.

• 3D printing firm Voodoo Manufacturing of Brooklyn, N.Y., has repurposed its 5,000-square-foot facility to make protective face shields for health care workers and hospitals. The firm aims to print at least 2,500 shields weekly with room to scale its volume of production based on demand, officials said.

Voodoo has sent its first shipment of shields to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, which has been hard hit by the outbreak.

• Bridgewater Studio Inc. of Chicago is using machines that normally make storefront displays to make protective face shields, partner Eric Cup told a local TV station. Bridgewater hopes to make about 6,000 face shields per day. The Cicero, Ill., Fire Dept. already has ordered about 1,200.