We all have heard the news recently about defective Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) masks that were released into facilities for use during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The defective masks were sent to facilities in Ontario and at that time it was realized very quickly that these items did not meet the required standards and could not be used.
Why it happened and how to fix it?
The sourcing of PPE for our Frontline Workers and other sectors in Canada by the Federal Government is well underway, and this process will not be slowing down anytime soon as the demand for proper PPE is of most importance during this Pandemic.
Here are some stats to explain the growth rate with regards to the global face mask industry. The face mask industry production capacity has historically been outsourced to developing countries. Asia is currently the world’s largest face mask producer and consumer, followed by North America and Europe. In 2019, the Asian face mask market size accounted for 35.79% of the global market, while North America was 28.69%, and Europe was 26.76%.
From 2014 to 2018, the growth rate of global face mask demand was in the range of 6-8%. At the end of 2019 when COVID-19 began to erupt in China, many companies began to increase the production of masks, and organizations as well as individuals increased their purchase of masks. Due to this situation at the end of 2019, the growth rate of global mask shipments in 2019 reached 15.48%. This is 7 percentage points higher than in previous years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global mask demand has exploded since January 2020 and is expected to reach 85.2 billion units by the end of the year, with a growth rate of 1186.47%.
These estimates of global face mask demand highly vary among different reports (BisReport, WHO, WorldBank, CDC, FDA…). However, they all concur that global production capacity will not be able to catch up with total global demand in the next 12 to 15 months. Meanwhile, the industry has seen many new players appear in the face mask manufacturing industry since January 2020. South East Asia countries scaled up production capacity by over 10 to 20 times on average, creating over 4,000 new PPE suppliers over the past 4 months, with daily production capacity jumping from 10 million units to 115 million units. However, the industry is facing the collateral damage of critical overgrowth: high volumes of counterfeit products and much higher defects and return rates than usual from new suppliers with little or no experience.
In a report, it was established that all defective masks received in the Ontario case were taken out of circulation immediately and will be replaced. This recall came after 1,200 boxes of mask where delivered to at least three long-term care homes, including one that has been dealing with a deadly COVID-19 outbreak. There were over one million masks prohibited for use by the Public Health Authority as the defect was due to the rubber bands that hold the mask to the face. The suppliers involved have indicated they stand behind their product and will make good on the defects by providing replacement products at no charge.
Presently there are strict rules and all Personal Protection Equipment supplies from Asia and other countries for use in Canadian Medical facilities are all being inspected by officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada and they must confirm that the products meet Canadian standards before they are circulated for use. With the standards being high for quality protection products during these unprecedented times, we want to assure you that Aurelia only manufactures and carries premium protection products and hold high standards during the manufacturing process. As opposed to many trading companies, Aurelia manufacture its own PPE which allows us to achieve the highest standards of quality control and cost effectiveness.
Aurelia was founded in 2004 and is one of the largest manufactures of medical-dental gloves and other PPE products know under the Aurelia Brand. We are based out of the greater Montreal area and this make us very proud as we are a family-run Canadian company. At Aurelia we believe that differences should not be obstacles and we welcome these differences by offering quality PPE products adapted to all. We think about the end user first when it come to our products they will be using. Aurelia manufactures only quality individual protection products which means the right product at the right price and simplicity for all. For more information about Aurelia, take a look at our website and our full product line.
