The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented rush on equipment to help medical professionals and individuals fight it and push toward recovery and a resolution. On April 1, the Chinese Government put out an expansive list that includes over 1,000 factories certified to export Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) products. Personal protective equipment examples include masks and protective clothing.
This follows several months of an internal focus to fight coronavirus at its point of origin. This has been done through quarantines and lockdowns across the country meant to flatten the curve of the virus’ spread.
The transformation has been incredible and rapid as factories follow the surge in demand, accordingly this speed of transformation is important for sellers to consider. Some factories are claiming to be certified to produce PPE without having the proper certifications. To make identification easier, the Chinese Government put out this list to help combat the outbreak of non-certified PPE factories from producing those products.
Some factories have been shifting their operations to help keep up with the demand surge in PPE products.
To see this for ourselves, we visited a cut-and-sew factory on behalf of one of our customers.
The first picture shows what the first floor of this factory looked like earlier this week. The second picture is the second floor of that same factory, switching their focus to producing masks for export:
What to Do If Your Product Line Includes Cut-and-Sew Products
If your product line includes cut-and-sew products, there are a few things you should do immediately:
- First, contact your factory and make sure they haven’t been mandated to switch from working on your products to producing PPE.
- If they have, the switch to mandated personal protective equipment could directly affect your production timelines.
- Lastly, if your production timelines are heavily impacted, it may be time to find a new factory that can help your products get to market faster.
Do Your Due Diligence
The primary result of the switch is more factories will be surfacing saying they can manufacture PPE. However, some of these factories may not be certified to do so. Here are some steps you can take:
- Double-check registrations of your partner factories to ensure they are current and legitimate. This helps ensure you stay protected and don’t get into a partnership with factories that aren’t registered.
- Then make sure your importers are aware that not all new PPE-producing factories will be certified, and take the appropriate precautions to fact check.
These steps help ensure you’re being proactive and can prevent roadblocks that come around with this evolving situation. Gembah can help you research and verify Food and Drug Administration certification for factories producing PPE. We’ll help you expedite processes and keep your business moving forward. Click here to learn more!