COVER STORY
COVID-19 testing, and for engineers in
particular, this is a unique opportunity
to make a positive impact in the fi ght
against COVID-19, by directly
contributing in no small part to the
national testing programme.”
The unprecedented spike in demand
for Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) has been felt every bit as keenly in
Ireland as the rest of the world. Again, it
is a sector in which manufacturing
companies have played a key role in
meeting the need.
One example came when a Donegal
company which normally produces
packaging for food companies is now
making up to one million face shields a
day in the fi ght against coronavirus.
RAP (Rapid Action Packaging),
which is based in Gaoth Dobhair,
switched production of its machines
to help the fi ght against the spread
of the virus.
The company normally supplies
packaging for hundreds of companies
around the world, including
Starbucks, McDonald’s, British
Airways, KFC, Asda and Sainsbury’s.
Its almost 200 staff produce close to
15 million food packaging items each
week.
However, the spread of coronavirus,
also known as Covid-19, meant orders
dropped by up to 60 per cent, leaving
the company facing a temporary crisis.
Production manager John
McDermott and his staff started to
work to produce a face shield that the
company hopes to supply to the HSE
and other government and private
bodies around the world, saying: “We’re
very proud that we have the facilities
here and the staff to produce this
product. Never before have I had staff
ask me if they could take products home
with them for their family. Production
has started fully now on the face shields
and we can produce up to one million of
them a day.”
“We have managed to make the shield
very competitively for around 14 cent a
unit because we have the materials and
we have access to the machinery here
and of course, the trained staff . “We just
have to hope that the demand for the
products is there now,” he said.
Minister for Education Joe McHugh
paid tribute to the company and its
workers, saying: “This is incredible work
and I want to pay tribute today to John
McDermott and every member of his
team in RAP in Gaoth Dobhair for their
amazing innovation. RAP has switched
24 » JUNE 2020 » WWW.MADEIN.IE
its production and designed these masks
to European standards and can produce
one million shields per day and more if
needed.”
Another company that shifted its
production the manufacture of PPE was
South Derry manufacturing fi rm Bloc
Blinds, which even required another 220
people. The Magherafelt fi rm said it
needed additional workers in a bid to
produce half a million face shields per
day for health workers.
The company has already repurposed
its factory on Station Road and turned
Mid Ulster District Council’s
Meadowbank Sports Arena into a PPE
production line to help it adhere to
social distancing guidelines.
Around 200 people had been
employed across both sites to make the
face shield products, but the increasing
demand has required a signifi cant
expansion of the production line.
Zimmer Biomet, too, donated
personal protective equipment to the
rehabilitation unit at St. Joseph’s
Hospital in Ennis.
Zimmer Biomet has three
manufacturing facilities in Ireland
and is one of the biggest employers
in Clare, according to Claude
Costelloe, general manager of
Zimmer Biomet Ireland’s
manufacturing facilities.
Beyond Ireland, Irish companies
are also aiding in the fi ght against,
the pandemic. For instance,
Canadian company Eclipse
Automation recently announced a
consultancy agreement with
Irema Ireland, a long-standing
manufacturer of respirator and air
fi ltration products. The agreement will
give Eclipse access to Irema’s N95 and
FFP2 mask product design expertise and
technology including respirator designs,
specifi cations, manufacturing process
and quality assurance procedures, on an
exclusive basis for use in Canada.
In business for more than 35 years,
Irema designs and produces the
Facemate brand of fl at fold style
respirators and is currently at full
capacity supplying respirators for the
Irish and Western European healthcare
community. Their line of certifi ed
disposable infection control face masks
protects people from harmful particles,
pathogens and aerosols that can
endanger the respiratory system, such as
COVID-19.
John Rice, Managing Director of
Irema, said: “Irema Ireland will bring its
years of respirator design and
manufacturing expertise to help Eclipse
provide much needed products for the
Canadian healthcare community.”
MADE
/WWW.MADEIN.IE