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Hanes Discusses Pivot to Making Medical Masks

In the span of a week, the apparel manufacturer was able to design cotton face masks, get them approved by the FDA and ramp up production to help in the fight against COVID-19.

Promo Insiders 4/7/2020

In late March, HanesBrands (asi/59528) came up with a design for three-ply cotton face masks, working closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to meet a critical need among frontline workers fighting the spread of the coronavirus. In the span of a week, the apparel company was able to finalize designs, get approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and then convert its factories from T-shirt, fleece and other basics and ramp up production on millions of masks. In this episode of Promo Insiders, Theresa Hegel, executive editor of digital content at ASI, chats with Rachel Newman, vice president and general manager of Hanes Activewear, to learn more about how this impressive feat was accomplished.

Podcast Chapters
0:41 – The logistics of pivoting to mask production in a week
3:50 – Why collaboration, even with competitors, is important now
5:25 – Challenges of manufacturing during a pandemic
6:56 – Mask donations Hanes is making
7:50 – Who can use these masks

Promo Insiders PodcastNewman explained how Hanes is working with suppliers, including SanMar (asi/84863) and Fruit of the Loom (asi/84257), to produce hundreds of millions of cotton face masks for the federal government. Hanes developed the designs for the masks and is providing much of the fabric, while the sewing is being shared out among several members of the cooperative consortium of apparel manufacturers, Newman said. “Cotton is our expertise,” she added.

Though the cotton masks don’t meet the specifications of the N-95 respirator masks, there is still a dire need for them among healthcare professionals. Newman noted that during normal times, for example, New York Presbyterian Hospital network requires about 4,000 non N-95 respirator masks a day.

In addition to manufacturing millions of masks each week, Hanes has been making donations of both cotton face masks and N-95 respirator masks to healthcare professionals in need.

“It’s a unique time,” Newman said. In early March, nobody at Hanes had ever really thought about getting into the mask-making business or working so closely with competitors. Now, however, the company is hard at work doing both.