Houston Methodist Hospital Orders 9,000 Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks For Immediate Delivery From Accel Lifestyle

Medical ICU pharmacists Dr. Michael Sirimaturos and Dr. Rebeca Halfon who have been taking care of COVID-19 patients.

HOUSTON — April 7, 2020 — One of the biggest concerns during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Accel Lifestyle is proud to announce it is supplying thousands of its Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks to Houston Methodist Hospital.Accel Lifestyle is using its exclusive, antibacterial Prema ® fabric to manufacture Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks, which are reusable and available to both the public and medical professionals. The Accel Prema Anti-Bacterial Face Masks have two layers of Prema ® fabric, with excellent breathability. Accel Lifestyle is also manufacturing pediatric masks, surgical gowns and masks with a HEPA filter pocket for hospital workers.

Houston Methodist Hospital recently purchased 9,000 masks from Accel Lifestyle. Houston Methodist Hospital is among the hospitals leading the country in the battle against COVID-19 — recently becoming the first academic medical center in the nation to receive FDA approval to transfuse donated plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient into a critically ill patient.

“In an effort to reduce the risk of unnecessary exposures, or catching other illnesses that could take away a first responder, the Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks are helping our team add a layer of reusable protection,” said Katherine K. Perez, infectious diseases pharmacist for Houston Methodist Hospital System and member of the RDV COVID-19 Team. “As shortages are imminent, this type of PPE is critical for healthcare workers and for patients to receive the best care. The last thing any clinician wants is to have to ration PPE across patient visits.”

While initially intended to be a non-stink fabric for athletic wear, Prema® fabric — due to its antimicrobial properties — has proven to be popular with cancer patients and others with compromised immune systems. Although it’s not an N95 mask, Accel CEO Megan Eddings is thrilled her Accel Lifestyle Prema® Anti-Bacterial Face Masks can help provide some level of protection against COVID-19.

“The fact that a hospital system that is on the forefront of COVID-19 is choosing Accel Lifestyle to create PPE is profound and humbling,” Eddings said. “I truly believe we’re all in this together and we all have a role to play during this pandemic. If Accel Lifestyle can help flatten the curve in any way, then we’re going to do it.”

Other hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Hermann, and Texas Children’s Hospital, are also looking at purchasing masks and surgical gowns manufactured by Accel Lifestyle. In addition, the Texas Medical Center hospitals are also independently testing Accel Lifestyle’s Prema ® fabric in their own infection control departments.

Prema fabric was developed by Accel Lifestyle founder and CEO Megan Eddings. It uses a
proprietary blend of silver-poly fibers woven with Supima®, the finest cotton in the world. It has undergone years of development and testing — focusing primarily on Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Even after 100 washes, tests have shown a 99.38% reduction rate of Staphylococcus aureus and a colony reduction rate of 97.44% of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Accel Lifestyle

Polyfab USA Named Master Distributor For The Americas Of Profilen® PTFE Sewing Thread

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — April 2, 2020 — Lenzing Plastics GmbH & Co KG of Lenzing, Austria has recently named Polyfab USA as the Master Distributor of their Profilen line of PTFE sewing thread for the shade, awning and marine industries in North and South America.  Most recently sold by a sales company in Pennsylvania, Profilen has been sold in the USA for 30 years and built up a loyal following of satisfied customers.

Profilen PTFE sewing thread is UV resistant, flame retardant, resistant to highly corrosive environments and free of heavy metals, chlorine and plasticizers.  It is covered under a factory warranty for the lifespan of the fabric it’s sewn onto.

According to the manufacturer’s website, “The seam of a product indicates its quality and reliability because if the seam does not hold, even the best fabric is useless.  This is why it makes sense to invest in high-quality sewing thread for high-quality products.  Profilen PTFE sewing thread is available in a wide range of sizes to suit your needs.”

Profilen PTFE sewing thread is suitable for the production of outdoor textiles, such as shade sails, awnings, umbrellas, marine tops and covers, etc.  Standard stock in the USA is light, medium and heavy weight sizes in Black, White and Clear in 8 oz and 16 oz spools.  Other sizes, weights, colors, spool put ups are available on special order.

Profilen is available in North and South America from the following Distributors:

  • ACTION UPHOLSTERY SUPPLY (Florida)
  • FORTIFIED TEXTILES (Pennsylvania)
  • INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS (Texas/Florida/Georgia)
  • NEW WINDS SpA (South America)
  • VAUGHAN’S FABRIC & SUPPLY (Oregon)
  • VETERAN COMPANY (California)

Fabricators can request sales flyers from their local distributor.

Product Line

All the following Polyfab shadecloth are 100% recyclable and approved by the Melanoma International Foundation for “Outstanding Product and Sun Safe Behaviors”:

POLYTEX® – A 7 oz. per square yard superior fire rated knitted HDPE shade fabric designed for use in modular shade structures and shade sails.  Recommended for residential and small commercial installations with unsupported spans of 25 feet or less.  Available in 19 colors and meets the FR specifications of NFPA-701 and ASTM E-84.  Lead and phthalate free and Prop 65 complaint.

COMTEX® – A 10 oz. per square yard superior fire rated knitted HDPE shade fabric designed for large tension membrane structures and architectural shade sails.  Recommended for larger commercial installations or any job if preferred.  Available in 17 colors and meets the FR specifications of NFPA-701 and ASTM E-84.  Lead and phthalate free and Prop 65 complaint.

ARCHITEC 400® – A 12 oz. per square yard premium extra heavy duty knitted HDPE shade fabric designed for larger tension membrane structures and architectural shade sails.  Available in 12 colors and meets the FR specifications of ASTM E-84.  Lead and phthalate free and Prop 65 complaint.

FR COMSHADE® – A 8.25 oz. per square yard premium fire rated knitted HDPE shade fabric with a next generation FR additive, registered with the California State Fire Marshal Title 19 #F-59002.  Lead and phthalate free and Prop 65 complaint.

COMSHADE® XTRA – A 12 oz. per square yard premium extra heavy duty knitted HDPE shadecloth designed for larger tension membrane structures and architectural shade sails, which significantly exceeds other shade fabric on the market for UV protection and strength to weight ratio.  Available in 10 designer colors.  Lead and phthalate free and Prop 65 complaint.

PARASOL™ – A 9.6 oz. per square yard commercial grade shadecloth suitable for tension structures and other heavy duty applications.  Available in 15 colors.

POLYFAB PRO™ SHADE SAIL HARDWARE: A full line of professional-grade stainless steel and other metal fittings for fabricating and installing shade sails.

POLYFAB SHADE SAIL EDGE WEBBING™:  Made in Australia, this polyester webbing is 2” wide and put up on 109 yard rolls with a breaking strength of approximately 4,500 lbf.

POLYFAB PRO™ SHADE SAIL CLEANER: A concentrated, environmentally safe, high-strength cleaner, designed to remove difficult soils from HDPE or vinyl fabrics with minimal effort.

PROFILEN® PTFE UV RESISTANT SEWING THREAD: For shade sails, awnings, marine and other high end fabric projects.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Polyfab USA LLC

Suominen And Ahlstrom-Munksjö Strengthen Their Cooperation

HELSINKI — April 6, 2020 — Suominen and Ahlstrom-Munksjö have signed a multi-year commercial agreement that renews and strengthens the existing co-operation at the Ställdalen plant in Sweden. The agreement secures supplies from Ställdalen to Suominen’s customers for several years and will also considerably improve the companies’ joint service to the customers.

Ställdalen manufactures Suominen’s HYDRASPUN® product family mainly for the European market. Hydraspun products are 100-percent biodegradable and produced from renewable materials. The products are considered category leader in the Moist Toilet Tissue segment (MTT). Suominen produces the same products at its Windsor Locks and Bethune plants in the US and the signed commercial agreement further improves Suominen’s ability to serve its customers around the world. The agreement gives the customers a possibility to cross-qualify production sites on different continents and hence increase their security of supply.

“This agreement is a very important milestone for Suominen and secures our ability to serve our customers for the coming years. The products manufactured by Ställdalen are an important part of our sustainable offering and thus an integral part of our strategy. The closer co-operation with Ahlstrom-Munksjö will also improve our ability to launch new sustainable innovations such as Hydraspun Royal with the Fine-to-Flush certificate or new products with dispersibility like toilet paper,” said Petri Helsky, President & CEO of Suominen.

“Thanks to continuous product development, Ställdalen is on the forefront of manufacturing of wipes substrates. This long term agreement further reinforces the long lasting partnership that Ahlstrom-Munksjö and Suominen have in this segment. Our cooperation will allow us to better serve the market place and improve customer satisfaction thanks to greater agility,” said Hans Sohlström, President and CEO of Ahlstrom-Munksjö.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Suominen Corporation

The Defense Logistics Agency: Taking The Pulse Of Industry During COVID-19

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — April 7, 2020 — Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) continues to execute its ongoing national security mission to support the military with repair parts, fuel, food and more. DLA has been reaching out aggressively to ‘take the pulse’ of industry and offer support as defense companies respond to coronavirus disruptions.

In a March 20 memo, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord told the defense industrial base, “Consistent with the President’s guidelines: ‘If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule.’”

During this unprecedented crisis, a ‘normal work schedule’ can be a tall order for some companies. As the main provider of military supplies, DLA has a vested interest in not only the state of its current and future contracts, but on the overall health of the 12,000 companies it works with. Nearly 9,000 of those suppliers are small businesses with varying capacities to stay financially viable during disruptions brought on by the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic won’t change the fact that our suppliers are the lifeblood of the DoD industrial base,” said DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams. “We’re staying on top of what this coronavirus is doing to our industry partners and we’ll do everything we can to support them as they support us.”

Communication is key, and DLA has taken a proactive approach in passing on information and assessing the health of partner companies during the crisis. In mid-March, Lt. Gen. Williams took part in a conference call with representatives from seven industry associations representing more than 4,000 companies, informing them of changes and accommodations DLA had made in response to the virus, as well as listening to their concerns. Organizations represented on the call included the Aerospace Industries Association, National Defense Industrial Association, National Defense Transportation Association, Professional Services Council, National Council of Textile Organizations, American Apparel & Footwear Association and SourceAmerica.

“The DLA director also made about 17 personal one-on-one calls to key defense industry executives,” said DLA Ombudsman Timothy Stark. “That was in addition to nearly 400 direct calls made by leaders of DLA’s major subordinate commands who oversee purchases for specific supply chains.”

To further assist communication with industry, DLA has optimized analytic and data collection tools to assess impacts to the supply chain, including a new Post-Award Request System reason code that allows industry to highlight any contracts where problems may exist due to coronavirus impacts.

“If you have a contract with us and you have some issue you need to talk to a contracting officer about, PARS is a way for you to submit that information into an automated system so that our contracting officers can take action on it,” Stark said.

DLA also created a Request for Information website that allows suppliers to inform the agency of potential impacts to their workforce and their contracts. They are using some of the already over 3,400 RFI responses to help assess the current health of the supplier base.

DLA laid the groundwork for close communication with its suppliers well before the coronavirus. In recent years, the agency established the DLA Ombudsman Office to facilitate industry outreach and issued an Industry Engagement Plan to emphasize stronger partnerships. The agency also holds yearly Demand Forecasting Summits and Industry Days to help industry plan for future demand. Supplier surveys and semiannual Industry Association Luncheons further those efforts and provide venues for feedback and discussions of current issues.

“DLA has worked hard to strengthen the partnership between the agency and our industry base,” Williams said. “In this moment of crisis, we are seeing the benefits of that work as we make a determined effort to hear our suppliers and help coordinate the industrial base response to this crisis.”

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Chris Erbe, Defense Logistics Agency

INDA Remembers Nonwovens Industry Veteran Klaus Maitre

CARY, N.C.— April 7, 2020 — INDA is warmly remembering Klaus Maitre, a veteran of the nonwovens and textile industry for five decades. Maitre passed away surrounded by his wife and family in Gastonia, N.C., on March 25th at the age of 81.

Maitre immigrated to the U.S. in 1963 after receiving his Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of North Rhine Westphalia in Aachen, Germany. His career included working as Divisional Vice President for the former Standard Coosa-Thatcher Company, a textile company, before joining the U.S. wholly-owned subsidiary of Dilo Systems Group as Executive Vice President. Maitre served at Dilo for over 25 years before retiring and starting his own consultancy, The Sigma Group LLC.

“INDA is saddened by the loss of a larger than life leader who was an integral part of the development of the nonwovens industry. We will remember Klaus for his many insightful contributions to our association and the industry,” said INDA President Dave Rousse. “He was a strong advocate for INDA and continually strove to advance the growth of the nonwovens and engineered materials industry.”

Maitre served on INDA Conference Planning Committees offering his expertise and vision to help guide programs and content. He maintained a strong presence through his time at Dilo at INDA conferences and expositions for over 20 years.

In 1982, Maitre was proud to become a U.S. citizen. His interests outside the nonwovens industry included a deep appreciation and love of history, soccer, and he was also a life-long Carolina Panthers’ football fan. Maitre is survived by his wife of 27 years, Sheron Cook Maitre; daughter and son-in-law, Monika and Rich Williams; step-son and wife, Brett and Joy Auten, and step-daughter, Angela Hutto; and his nine grandchildren.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry

Alchemie Technology: Applying Digital Precision Coatings To Combat COVID-19

CAMBRIDGE, England — April 7, 2020 — Alchemie Technology is announcing the accelerated launch of Novara, a breakthrough new high-throughput digital precision coating technology for technical textiles. The textile technology innovator is supporting the global efforts to combat COVID-19 by applying its Novara technology to the manufacture of safety-critical products, including anti-viral facemasks. Alchemie is actively partnering with manufacturers worldwide to build production lines to address acute personal protective equipment needs and medical textile shortages.

“We have accelerated the launch of our Novara textile coating technology to address the critical shortages of personal protective equipment worldwide,” said Dr. Simon Kew, managing director at Alchemie Technology. “Our team has been working hard to ready Novara, our breakthrough technology for coating technical textiles, to support the frontline efforts to combat COVID-19. We predict that the worldwide requirement for facemasks will be over 50 million per day, and we are getting ready to address this urgent need.”

Alchemie’s Novara technology delivers high-precision, 2D-patterned one or two-sided functional coatings to technical textiles, enabling truly unique, multi-functional textiles to be manufactured. Novara combines the throughput of conventional coating technologies with the precision of digital to unlock new product design opportunities and radically reduce the cost of technical textiles. The technology enables functional coatings to be applied with unparalleled precision, all controlled with real-time digital data.

“Our Novara precision coating technology is a breakthrough for digital technical textile manufacturing,” explained Dr. Alan Hudd, Chairman at Alchemie Technology. “Our digital manufacturing approach to textile coatings will finally bring the limitless flexibility of digital printing to functional coatings.”

The benefits of Novara include:

  • New product innovation: precise 2D digital placement of coatings, including one or two-sided application using different materials;
  • More profitable production with reduced material consumption: only delivering coating where it’s needed; and
  • Unparalleled agility: with reduced inventory and digital productivity benefits, including rapid changeovers in less than five minutes and economic short runs.

The Novara digital precision coating technology can be delivered as a stand-alone machine or as a module for current production lines, enabling convenient implementation and rapid delivery of manufacturing capacity.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Alchemie Technology

Archroma To Introduce A New Thickener For Sanitizing Gels To Address Global Shortage Due To COVID-19 Crisis

REINACH, Switzerland — April 7, 2020 — Archroma, a global supplier of color and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced the introduction of Mowiplus® HPC 9600, a new thickener for sanitizing gels to address global shortage due to COVID‑19 crisis.

Hand sanitizers are typically made of alcohol and additives, to which a thickener is often added to create the gel texture. Gel sanitizers are considered more user-friendly than liquids, as they avoid spilling and thus wasting the precious sanitizer material that is in critical need for the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

The thickener typically used for the production of hand sanitizing gels and other home care and personal care products, is currently in global shortage due to the COVID‑19 coronavirus.

Experts from the Archroma team in Brazil, anticipating shortages just as they had happened during previous outbreaks such as H1N1, decided to look into the matter.

The result is Mowiplus® HPC 9600, an alternative that offers good performance and cost levels, and even allows to skip the 12-hours hydration process needed traditionally, thus saving valuable time in a crisis that need all the sanitizers it can get.

“Everyone at Archroma is currently engaged in the fight against COVID‑19, at home and at work, as we do everything we can to protect our loved ones, our colleagues, and ourselves”, comments Marcelo Ribeiro, head of sales Brazil at Archroma.

“With Mowiplus® HPC 9600 we are actually able to directly make a difference and contribute to the fight, by delivering a product that helps to make a more convenient end-product, and to preserve every drop of precious hand sanitizer. It’s our nature, and that makes us very proud”, adds Regina Oliveira, Head of Sales Latin America at Archroma.

The new product is listed in the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) and meets the July 2016 RDC N°83 ANVISA / MERCOSUL Technical Regulation for personal hygiene products, cosmetics and perfumes.

Mowiplus HPC 9600 is currently available in Brazil.

® Trademarks of Archroma registered in many countries.

© 2020 Archroma

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: Archroma

NRF: Estimated March Imports Hit Five-Year Low, Declines Expected to Continue Amid Pandemic

WASHINGTON — April 7, 2020 — Estimates show that imports at major U.S. retail container ports dropped to their lowest level in five years in March, and imports are projected to remain significantly below normal levels through early summer as the coronavirus pandemic continues, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“Even as factories in China have begun to get back to work, we are seeing far fewer imports coming into the United States than previously expected,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Many stores are closed, and consumer demand has been impacted with millions of Americans out of work. However, there are still many essential items that are badly needed and because of store closures cargo may sit longer than usual and cause other supply chain impacts.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic is unraveling the economy nationally and globally as most of the world moves toward a lockdown that entails the closure of significant portions of both the service and manufacturing industries,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “The largest drop is forecast for the first half of this year but with uncertainty about the length of the lockdown and extent of the pandemic, the second half may not be in better shape.”

U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.51 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in February, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 17 percent from January and down 6.8 percent year-over-year. A TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.

February numbers are normally lower than January because of annual factory shutdowns in China for Lunar New Year celebrations. But the shutdowns lasted longer than usual and continued into March because of the coronavirus outbreak. While actual numbers for March are not yet available, estimates show that imports plunged to 1.27 million TEU, down 21.3 percent year-over-year and the lowest level seen since 1.21 million TEU in February 2015 during a labor dispute that caused slowdowns at West Coast ports that winter.

April is forecast at 1.44 million TEU, down 17.6 percent year-over-year; May at 1.48 million TEU, down 20.1 percent; June at 1.41 million TEU, down 21.4 percent; July at 1.61 million TEU, down 18.2 percent, and August at 1.72 million TEU, down 12.5 percent.

Before the coronavirus began to have an effect on imports, February through May had been forecast at a total of 6.9 million TEU but is now expected to total 5.7 million TEU, a drop of 17.3 percent. As recently as last month, monthly numbers had been expected to hit the 2 million TEU mark beginning in May. The last time monthly totals fell below 1.5 million TEU was in February 2017.

The first half of 2020 is forecast to total 8.93 million TEU, down 15.1 percent from the same period last year. Before the extent of the pandemic was known, the first half of the year was forecast at 10.47 million TEU.

Imports during 2019 totaled 21.6 million TEU, a 0.8 percent decrease from 2018 amid the trade war with China but still the second-highest year on record.

Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, provides historical data and forecasts for the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.

Posted April 7, 2020

Source: The National Retail Federation (NRF)

Community Memorial Health Systems Is First On-Premise Laundry To Earn Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — April 6, 2020 — Community Memorial Health Systems (CMHS), a community-owned, nonprofit, state-of-the-art regional hospital and health center serving the needs of the greater Ventura, Calif. area has had their on-premise laundry (OPL) achieve the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification. This is the first OPL to meet the standards of Hygienically Clean since the program’s inception in 2011.

The laundry provides hygienically clean linens, gowns, scrubs and other healthcare garments for employees and patients of the 242-bed facility. “We’re excited to be amongst the elite facilities to provide Hygienically Clean textiles to our hospital’s patients in Ventura County,” said Gustavo Guzman, Laundry Manager, CMHS. “We are proud to be in compliance with the Hygienically Clean Standard, which has the industry’s best management practices for producing safe linens. Our employees also feel safer and are reassured by the processes we follow and the results-oriented testing of our products.”

Hygienically Clean is the quantified, validated standard and measure for hygienically clean textiles in North America, and achieving this certification reflects an organization’s commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their ability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing based on established hygienically clean healthcare textile methods and standards.

The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the organization’s continuing dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that:

  • Employees are properly trained and protected;
  • Managers understand regulatory requirements;
  • OSHA-compliant; and
  • Physical plant operates effectively.

To achieve certification initially, laundries pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. They also must pass a facility inspection. To maintain their certification, they must pass quarterly RODAC and semi-annual USP 62 testing (RODAC results less than or equal to 20 cfu per square diameter and USP 62 results must show an absence of specified microorganisms) to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained. Re-inspection occurs every two to three years.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations by verifying quality control procedures in linen, uniform and facility services operations related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced by TRSA in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for Hygienically Clean healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with Hygienically Clean launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles.

“Congratulations to CMHS on this milestone,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “Attaining the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification proves this facility’s commitment to infection prevention and that their laundry is taking every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Hygienically Clean reflects the evolution of healthcare laundry certification in light of growing global concerns about infection control, documenting practices that ensure elimination of potentially harmful microbial content while adding quantifiable verification of continuous improvement in overall cleanliness.

Posted April 6, 2020

Source: TRSA

Verus International Acquires Controlling Interest In N95 Mask And Biohazard Suit Manufacturer

Gaithersburg, Md. — April 3, 2020 — Verus International Inc. is pleased to announce that it has acquired a controlling 51-percent interest in ZC Top Apparel Manufacturing Inc., a Philippines-based maker of reusable N95 fabric masks and biohazard suits.

ZC Top produces a highly sought-after, premium mask that is N95 compliant and constructed of a washable shell and a multi-layer filter than can provide protection for three days before replacement. The multi-layer filter consists of BFE99, PFE99 melt-blown and spun-bond polypropylene, which are the same materials used in medical surgical and N95 disposable masks. The masks also feature an activated carbon filter that functions like a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, giving an additional layer of protection compared to a regular N95 mask.

The ZC Top masks also incorporate exhalation valve technology to facilitate smoother breathing, along with cotton construction to create a high-quality reusable mask that is more comfortable and cost effective than many other anti-viral mask designs.

“Investors may be surprised to see us enter this business, but we have international trade experience that is highly sought after in this current environment,” explained Verus International CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. “We were approached early in the COVID-19 crisis by the management team at ZC Top, who were experiencing an overwhelming number of requests for protective gear from governments and other entities around the world. We are providing the funding and other resources to begin filling these pending orders as quickly as possible. We are not yet prepared to provide revenue estimates, but based on initial demand, we believe protective gear could eclipse all of our existing revenue sources.”

The new ZC Top subsidiary currently has request for quotes (RFQs) from the U.S. Government and other governments, agencies and sellers on multiple continents. The Philippines-based facility has a peak production capacity of ten million masks per month. Based on pending orders, the company believes that it can operate at near capacity for the foreseeable future.

“This is a transformative moment for our company, giving us a new subsidiary that more than doubles our backlog overnight,” Bhatnagar said. “We worked hard to get the resources in place to unlock this unused capacity at a time when the world needs it most. This is an operating facility with an existing product line, so our investment will go directly to produce masks and biohazard suits. We expect this to be a very profitable enterprise within the first month of operation, with a positive impact on our future projections.”

Verus will provide additional details on this new subsidiary during the upcoming Fiscal 2019 financial results conference call on Monday, April 13, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 p.m. Pacific Time).

Posted April 6, 2020

Source: Verus International

1...1,0601,0611,062...2,625Page 1,061 of 2,625

Sponsors

Breaking News

Load more

Digital Issue

2026 Quarterly Issue Number I

View Latest Digital Issue

FEATURED ARTICLES

© Copyright 2017 Textile Industries Media Group, LLC.