Western Pa. companies scramble to make protective equipment in coronavirus fight
On a long table inside a giant complex near New Stanton, where Volkswagen assembled cars and Sony made televisions decades ago, a small crew of workers for a high-tech company is assembling face shields to meet the immediate demand for critical medical supplies.
“I heard about the need for shields and masks, and I knew we could do it. We are working at the highest end of the technology,” making metal clips out of metallic powder to hold the plastic on the face shields in place, said Buck Helfferich, president of Tronix3D.
Tronix3D is partnering with Wabtec Corp. in Pittsburgh to build 1,000 of the clear plastic face shields for Westmoreland-based Excela Health, which operates hospitals in Greensburg, Latrobe and Mt. Pleasant. Helfferich said he has delivered some masks to Excela Latrobe Hospital and had sold more than 7,000 by Friday.
In Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, Thread International also assembles medical-grade face shields for health care workers locally, as well as in Texas and Florida, CEO Ian Rosenberger said. Workers are making more than 50,000 shields, with financial assistance from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.
After having to lay off his workers at Thread’s Day Owl backpack-making plant at the beginning of the coronavirus shutdown, Rosenberger hired all of them back and is looking to double his workforce of 15 employees within the next month.
“I feel like we are supplying the front lines in a war. It’s (become) a medical device company I never wanted,” Rosenberger said.
Thread was conceived with a social mission in 2010, creating fabric from discarded plastic bottles collected in impoverished countries.
In the small village of Whitney near the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Ken Stas’ Acme Plastic Enterprises is receiving sheets of plastic and parts — foam and elastic — to make face shields as well. His company started April 3.
Acme, which is a plastics-fabricating, finishing and decor manufacturer, delivered 1,000 masks Thursday after researching production for a few weeks, Stas said.
Stas said the big challenge is getting the parts from the sources because “everyone wants them.”
Tronix3D, Wabtec, Thread International, Acme Plastic and Philips Respironics, which is producing ventilators at its Murrysville plant, are just a few of the companies in Western Pennsylvania that pivoted their manufacturing capabilities or innovated to fulfill the demand for medical supplies and related products. Latrobe-based Carclo Technical Plastics reported a 40% increase in sales of parts such as plastic collection tubes used in coronavirus testing kits.
More than 500 companies notified Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development through its critical medical supplies procurement portal that they can produce the much-in-demand medical products, according to Dominique Lockett, a department spokeswoman.
While some companies ramped up production of critical medical supplies, others still are considering entering that market, said James Smith, president of Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland, a Greensburg-based economic development organization.
Given the heightened demand for personal protective equipment during the covid-19 pandemic, Excela is sourcing supplies from both traditional and nontraditional vendors, said spokeswoman Robin Jennings. The Economic Growth Connection and the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation are assisting in identifying possible partners for this endeavor who can augment the need locally, thereby supporting small businesses that are in a position to provide life-sustaining services by adapting their production lines, Jennings said.
Wabtec said it will assemble the shields over the coming weeks at its Grove City plant. When that happens, Helfferich said his company will sell the finished product at a price that includes labor costs.
Tronix also is working with Penn State University and Youngstown State University to make a two-hole face mask with its 3D printer. A disposable cloth filter could be placed in the air holes of the mask, Helfferich said.
Thread International’s Rosenberger said he expects to continue to be busy producing face shields for health care workers, given the spread of the pandemic. The company has been able to buy raw materials that are in short supply, such as 30,000 square feet of plastic and 11 linear miles of elastic.
Highmark Health in Pittsburgh plans to buy 30,000 of the face masks, which will be worn over an N95 mask to help them last longer rather than being disposed after treating a single patient.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Rosenberger said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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