Coronavirus Relief Efforts in Big and Smaller Ways
How Batiss acted to help small manufacturing businesses in the fight of the coronavirus pandemic taking a uniquely collaborative approach.
With the pandemic sweeping around the world, while in Italy we move forward to the so called “next normal”, we’re sharing what springing into action meant to us through the high times of the pandemic.
Since the COVID-19 spread in Italy and then in Europe, all our company’s linen-related manufacturing activities came to a progressive halt. Orders, sales campaigns, and collection deliveries were suspended in such an unexpected and uncontrollable series of events.
Besides issuing guidelines for all our associates to take all the necessary steps, as the world is dramatically hit by the coronavirus crisis, we answered the pandemic taking a uniquely collaborative approach to the problem.
A uniquely collaborative approach
As a shortage of FFP2 (N95) masks — which provide high standards of filtration for airborne particles — was looming in Italy, all kinds of masks have been in a dramatically short supply at hospitals, shelters, and nursing homes of the Regions hit by the pandemic.
We approached textile manufacturers around the world, on behalf of our partners, asking for surgical and non-surgical textiles. Being small and relatively new on the design scene, we realized raw materials and other components have been virtually impossible to purchase from both new and old suppliers, globally and locally.
As the need for sanitary face masks and other personal protective equipment quickly escalated to a crisis, we realized that we could shift our small manufacturing to help relieving such excruciating circumstances.
Being unable to procure raw materials, we offered our help to bigger firms contributing to manufacturing both sanitary and non-sanitary, disposable and reusable face masks to help the Italian National health system provide safeguards to health care workers on the front line.
We bought and used unfinished cotton textiles from warehouses in Tuscany, to make mask covers designed as a second layer to be worn over and help extend the lives of the so-difficult-to-find N95 masks. Our highly skilled seamstresses put their talents to sewing masks out of linen sheeting designed to specifications provided by Kaiser Permanente or by Politecnico di Milano and Regione Lombardia.
When local suppliers reopened we turned to them to procure fabric for both donations and in-house production. We donated more than 1'000 meters (approximately 1'100 yards) of tightly woven cotton to help producing personal equipment, from hospital gowns to reusable face masks.
To help further and support our communities, our artisans have been working relentlessly for the 3 months of the Italian lockdown and we’ve been continuing for at least the following 30 days producing protection masks exclusively.
A collectively bigger impact
Today, more than 5,000 face masks have been directly manufactured by our teamforce in facilities near Florence, Italy. Collectively, we’ve contributed to or directly manufactured more than 25,000 masks so far — and counting, in bigger brands sales and donations to support local volunteer, medical and paramedic organizations.
We realize that our contribution to this global crisis is small, but we hope that it inspires many more small manufacturers around the county to help where they can, so that the collective effort makes a real impact.
