SKYLOTEC expands its range to include respiratory protection. The globally active brand for fall protection systems has invested in several production facilities and will continue to produce medical face masks and masks for light respiratory protection (FFP masks) beyond the corona pandemic. The German family-owned company is receiving a grant from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, which will subsidise around one third of the investment costs for the construction of a state-of-the-art machine park. With this funding programme, the Federal Government wants to support the establishment of innovative production facilities in Germany and Europe.
„SKYLOTEC Managing Director Dr. Kai Rinklake, Sales Director Alexander Merl (left) and Jens Huetwohl as Head of Supply Chain Management are looking forward to the start of respiratory protection production.“
Due to the increased demand caused by the Corona pandemic, protective equipment is still urgently needed. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, many PPE items were out of stock, were offered at excessive prices or of inferior quality or had long delivery times. This also applied to protective masks, which were almost exclusively imported from abroad. In order to counteract supply bottlenecks, SKYLOTEC converted its production in parts in spring and manufactured simple face masks made of cotton on the existing machines. At the same time, the manufacturer of fall protection systems worked on a concept to permanently expand its range to include respiratory protection, and produces medical face masks and FFP2 masks. “As a manufacturer of protective equipment with over 70 years of experience and corresponding systems for quality assurance in production, we have the know-how and can implement this in an uncomplicated manner,” says Dr. Kai Rinklake, Managing Director of SKYLOTEC. The company group also includes ultraMEDIC, a certified manufacturer of medical products, which has the necessary expert knowledge in the area of medical product approval. At its headquarters in Neuwied, SKYLOTEC has invested in five modern production facilities. About one third of the acquisition costs are covered by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy. Rinklake has now received the notice of funding from the Federal Minister of Economics, Peter Altmaier, during a virtual handover. “We want to significantly expand production capacities for protective equipment in Germany and thus effectively reduce our dependence on imports. Our long-term goal is to cover the entire value chain - from machines to filter fleece to protective masks,” says Altmaier.
„SKYLOTEC produces medical face masks that can be used in the healthcare sector, among others“
Over 300 million masks annually
SKYLOTEC is one of the first companies to be supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy within the so-called Innovation Programme. The aim is to build up long-term production capacities in Germany that are competitive on the world market, with an annual volume of 4.5 billion certified respiratory masks. SKYLOTEC has already built a new production hall in Neuwied. Machines are being commissioned there that are among the fastest and most innovative in the world. They enable fully automated production with automatic defect detection of 800 masks per minute and also have a short set-up time. This means that SKYLOTEC will be able to produce up to 300 million medical face masks according to EN 14683:2019+AC:2019 and up to 50 million FFP2 masks according to EN 149:2001+A1:2009 in the coming year. In addition, the company has set up its own respiratory protection laboratory in order to be above the state of the art in quality assurance of the current production and to stay ahead of the competition. This is a standard that SKYLOTEC has set for its existing PPE products and which the new business segment must also meet. This also has the advantage of being able to carry out a large part of the preliminary tests required for certification independently. “This was an important decision for the development of the masks. After all, it has become clear that the biggest bottleneck at present is approval by external test centres,” says Managing Director Rinklake. In addition, in order to keep supply chains as short as possible, SKYLOTEC has already concluded long-term contracts with material suppliers from Europe. For example, filter fleece from German production is processed. This saves time, transport costs - and, last but not least, protects the environment, because until now the challenge has been that the majority of the required raw materials were produced in Asia.
Measurement for optimum fit
„FFP2 masks for light respiratory protection are useful for example to protect against dust during work.“
In terms of ergonomics and wearing comfort, the new masks should, meanwhile, be in no way inferior to the quality standard that users of SKYLOTEC fall protection systems are used to. “We work every day on solutions that lead to improvements for people who use our products. This applies to the development of fall protection systems, and continues to apply to respiratory protection masks as well,” says Rinklake. For example, the entire staff in Neuwied was measured with a 3D body scanner and a data model was generated from this, on the basis of which the best possible fit for the new masks was found.