Packaging, automation, and material handling system provider Schaefer Systems International Inc. is using its corporate equipment and assets to produce face masks for its clients, retail distribution center employees, and waste collection workers classified as “essential” workers in the fight against the coronavirus.

Schaefer’s Packaging Systems Division is using its textile dunnage sewing capabilities and leveraging vendor relationships to quickly manufacture the masks, launching production this week in both its Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Louis Potosi, Mexico, locations. The first prototypes have already been completed, and the company plans to ramp up production to as many as 1,000 masks per week.

“This is a great opportunity to help our communities and essential employees who provide much needed services every day. We applaud each and every one of them for their heroic efforts to keep the economy and the essential services going,” Andy Schumacher, vice president of Schaefer’s Packaging Systems Division, said in a release. “This is truly a project that the entire SSI Schaefer team got behind and made it happen quickly along with our suppliers. We’re all happy to contribute and do our civic duty.”

And in another example of a logistics industry supplier dedicating its manufacturing muscle to the coronavirus fight, the industrial casters and wheels maker Caster Concepts Inc. is now making headbands for the face shields worn by healthcare workers.

Albion, Michigan-based Caster Concepts has teamed up with Technique Inc., a metal fabricator based in Jackson, Michigan, to collaborate on producing up to 5,000 face shields daily and shipping them to hospitals.

“These supplies are going to the true heroes in this story: our healthcare professionals who are caring for people around the clock,” Caster Concepts CEO Bill Dobbins said in a release. “We want to make sure they’re well-equipped to do their job and be safe while they’re doing it.”

• To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page
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