COVID-19
Manufacturing
Apparel

Manufacturers Putting Their Manufacturing Into COVID-19 Efforts

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Reports keep coming across our desks about a number of suppliers to the team industry pivoting their manufacturing resources from their traditional products into COVID-19-related goods. Here are four of them:

Sanmar has joined a coalition of American apparel brands and textile companies responding to the urgent call of the White House for medical supplies. Parkdale, the largest yarn spinner in the United States, headquartered in Gastonia, NC, helped lead the effort to build the coalition with Hanesbrands, Fruit of the Loom and six other companies, including Sanmar, to set up a manufacturing supply chain and begin ramping up production of the masks. Once fully ramped up in four to five weeks, the companies expect to produce up to 10 million face masks per week in the U.S. and in Central America.


Delta Apparel, parent company of Soffe, also joined a coalition of apparel brands that are responding to calls for companies to help produce face masks during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“We are extremely proud to offer the resources we have available for the manufacture of face masks to help support those hospitals and health care workers on the front lines, as well as all Americans battling the spread of COVID-19,” says Robert W. Humphreys, Delta Apparel’s chairman and CEO. “We have already begun production of the face masks in our sewing facility in North Carolina and expect to begin production in Honduras this week.”


Gildan has joined forces with various partners to produce non-medical face masks and isolation gowns in support of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The company reports it has mobilized a team of experts to develop and implement stringent processes to protect employees coming back to work and that its facilities that will be reopened will operate under a strict biosecurity protocol developed following government mandated guidelines and industry best practices.

“We are committed to playing a proactive role in the global fight against this pandemic,” the company says. “Thank you to our partners and everyone who has been working hard to get the required authorizations and plans in place to start the production of these much-needed items, and especially our facility workers who have agreed to work during this difficult time.”


G-Form, which makes personal protective gear for team sports athletes, has dedicated its North Smithfield, RI, manufacturing facility, Polyworks, to the production of ANSI/ISEA Z87 D3 personal protective equipment (PPE) face shields. The facility is positioned to produce several hundred thousand face shields weekly.

“We understand there’s a real shortage of PPE for those on the front lines. Our Polyworks facility in North Smithfield is preparing to produce as many medical face shields as possible,” says Glen Giovanucci, G-Form CEO.

Though the company already has several hundred thousand face shields committed to various healthcare operations throughout the U.S., G-Form says it will remain steadfast in its support of the medical community. “We take great honor in supporting the efforts to protect our healthcare heroes with the necessary personal protective equipment,” says Giovanucci.