The world thinks of China when they think of Covid-19 face masks. But other countries are currently ramping up production, as well.
The Medicom Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of surgical and respiratory masks, has announced plans to open a second mask production facility in France. The plant will be established as Medicom Kolmi-Hopen Engineering and will help the company serve incremental demand across Europe as Medicom continues to invest around the globe to ensure proximity of mask production to end markets.
Kolmi-Hopen is the European arm of the Medicom Group and France's leading producer of surgical and respiratory masks. Medicom acquired the current production facility in Saint-Barthelemy-d'Anjou near Angers in 2011 as part of a strategic initiative to diversify mask production around the world.
At the beginning of the year, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Kolmi-Hopen plant and took the opportunity to confirm his willingness to protect French industry and the independence of the personal protective equipment supply chain. With 11 new lines and an optimized production schedule, mask production at the two sites in Angers will have tripled in five months.
With the opening of a second mask and PPE production facility in Beaucouzé, also near Angers, at the beginning of July, Medicom will have the capacity to meet its commitments to its historical customers and to respond to requests from various European governments.
Initially, production at the new Medicom plant in Beaucouzé will be dedicated to the company's historical customers, including those outside France who the company was unable to serve while respecting the requisition ordered by the French government. Following the lifting of trade barriers at the end of May, Kolmi-Hopen can resume supplying customers in 26 European countries, as well as in Canada and Hong Kong.
With three decades of scientific expertise, an extensive global network of raw material suppliers and ten fully controlled manufacturing facilities, including recently opened or announced facilities in Canada and Singapore, Medicom is uniquely positioned to help meet the exponential demand for products like face masks during worldwide health crises like the current coronavirus pandemic and beyond.