With Games Paused, Sports Companies Shift to Making Medical Supplies

Bauer, and its sister companies Cascade and Maverik, are based in Liverpool, N.Y., and in Blainville, Quebec. Their factories normally produce Bauer’s hockey skates, helmets and face shields as well as lacrosse equipment. But now they are turning out larger plastic face shields, similar to welding masks, to be used by hospital workers as extra protection against splatter that could contain the contagion.

Kinnaly said one of his engineers approached him last month with the idea. A design was created, the machinery adjusted and soon after production was underway. The company began by making about 3,000 units per week at each location and, as the work force grows more familiar with the process, Kinnaly hopes to ramp up production to 70,000 per week by the end of April.

They are not alone. In Lawrence, Mass., the New Balance athletic shoe company is making cloth face masks for doctors, nurses and hospital staff. Just outside of Oxford, England, the ROKiT Williams Racing team has joined with several other Formula One teams to produce ventilators and in Easton, Pa., Fanatics, a company that normally makes baseball uniforms, is using that fabric — pinstripes and all — to manufacture masks and gowns. Last week, the New England Patriots sent one of its team jets to China to bring back 1.2 million of the desperately needed N95 protective masks while many other sporting goods companies and teams also contribute to the effort.

And it is not just sports. Several other industries, including fashion houses like Prada, Gucci and Eddie Bauer, and perfumeries like Dior and Givenchy, shifted their factory production toward medical supplies and hand sanitizer for the battle against the coronavirus.

In many cases the stories are similar: As people in the Western Hemisphere became increasingly aware of the shortage of vital medical equipment like ventilators, and masks, which help health care professionals guard against infection, people at those companies realized they could help.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/sports/formula-one-bauer-coronavirus-ppe.html