Helping apparel factories to produce personal protective equipment

  • Guidance to produce PPE
  • New free platform to list all equipment
  • Connect with suppliers & buyers

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as facial masks, gloves, and gowns, is required at an unprecedented scale. The global need for N95 & FFP-2 masks for example is expected to exceed 1.3 billion units for the next 6 months alone. Shortages are endangering health workers and patients worldwide.

To address the global shortage of PPE, IDH is supporting apparel factories to produce the needed equipment that meets the demand and specifications of PPE related to COVID-19. Not only by supporting PPE factories to boost their output, but also through supporting factories that switch from regular production to producing PPE products.

The crisis is taking a huge toll on the apparel sector. Factories are struggling as orders are halted and cancelled, whilst payment terms are worsening as their customers foresee cashflow challenges. All of this affects workers the hardest, who stand to lose their jobs and livelihoods.

By starting to produce the needed protective equipment, apparel factories are not only ensuring jobs for their workers and therefore business continuity, but they are also contributing to decreasing the global shortage of PPE.

Producing PPE does come with some challenges for factories. For example, in finding relevant data to guide them in the process, as well as being able to connect with potential buyers.

New free platform for PPE suppliers and buyers

Therefore, in addition to supporting factories to produce the needed equipment, IDH has set up a PPE Dashboard where buyers and suppliers can connect, and where factories can find guidance regarding PPE production.

 

Visit the PPE Dashboard

 

At the time of the launch, May 25th, some 600 factories with their equipment are listed in the dashboard and we are continuously working to include more suppliers.

The dashboard offers factories a platform to list what they have manufactured, and to share their details to be found by organizations in need of PPE.

The platform also provides factories with much needed information. Factories can find standards from major geographies, over 200 global tenders, and raw material providers from 20 different countries.

Organizations in need of PPE can search for the equipment in the dashboard, and they can share their requirements and specifications to guide any new suppliers.

By starting to produce the needed protective equipment, apparel factories are not only ensuring jobs for their workers and therefore business continuity, but they are also contributing to decreasing the global shortage of PPE.

IDH is not only supporting textile factories producing PPE during this crisis, read here how else we support the apparel sector