Inside the Chicago-area factory aimed at ending the US’s overreliance on PPE production in Asia

“I think bad decisions were made in American manufacturing, especially for critical assets like (medical gloves),” Ratigan said. “The decision has been made to ensure that this will never happen again.”

Preparing — in America — for the next pandemic

During CNN’s December visit to the USMGC plant, a newly built production line ‘dipped’ its first-ever nitrile gloves – a test to ensure machines work and the complex chemistry of nitrile is perfect. . Each of the line’s thousands of components is made in the United States, Ratigan said.

The pandemic has revealed “how dependent the United States is on foreign sources, which is a vulnerability in public health emergencies,” the HHS spokesperson said.

In 2020, 90% of the gloves, syringes and needles used in the United States came from Asia alone, according to HHS. Now, Washington plans to spend $1.7 billion to boost domestic PPE production, part of $4.5 billion to help expand U.S. manufacturing more broadly, according to HHS. The United States is also investing in the domestic production of raw materials for gloves, masks, gowns, drugs, vaccines, medical test kits, and other critical medical supplies.

The marketing director for SHOWA Americas tried to convince buyers to diversify their suppliers by buying at least some gloves made in the United States, he said. It was a tough sell.

“We were trapped in the always frustrating game of being a national manufacturer – but our own country won’t buy our products,” explained Gilbert LeVerne.

Pre-pandemic plans to modernize and expand the plant were accelerated thanks to increased demand and a loan from the US government. Within about three years, the company expects to produce more than six times its current US output, he said.

Having no experience in manufacturing, they brought in overseas glove production experts, who will launch the production lines next month. The gloves, they expect, will be a bit more expensive than Asian brands.

“Hospitals and clinics and even end-users are willing to pay this slight premium…so that we are prepared for a future pandemic,” Momin told CNN.

Harnessing technology for a glove made in the USA

Malaysia produces the largest share of medical gloves in the world, followed by Thailand and China, according to the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association. It is almost impossible for American producers to compete with Asian factories on price. But imports often have a different cost.

Ratigan insists he can compete on price while following U.S. laws and running an ethical workplace.

“The reason I can do this is that technology allows me to do this in a way that allows me to compete with even the dirtiest user of slave labor,” he said.

The key, Ratigan said, is a virtually fully automated process: A giant machine equipped with thousands of hand-held molds dips into a chemical mixture at precise heat, then pulls off the resulting gloves at just the right time.

“You could never have done this 30 years ago because the technology didn’t exist,” he said.

Gesturing to his production line, Ratigan points to what he calls “a simple widget” – his shorthand for most anything that could be made in the United States by well-paid labor.

“There are hundreds of these gadgets that should be made here and could be made here in a way that provides a minimum wage of $50,000 a year, full benefits…no forced labor, no abuse and all in creating profitable businesses,” he said.

The USMGC’s minimum wage is $25 an hour, plus health care coverage and benefits — and there are plans to provide free onsite child care, Ratigan said.

“If you treat people as valuable, you always make money,” he said.

Demand-driven flexibility is key, says expert

The pandemic has proven that the United States’ overreliance on Asia for medical supplies is “very high risk,” said Prashant Yadav, health supply chain expert at the Center for Global Development. from Washington.

The success of U.S. glove makers hinges on their degree of automation and enough flexibility to scale production up or down based on demand, he told CNN.

It also depends on how long shoppers remember the desperate race to secure PPE, Yadav said, “Or is it just a very short-term memory, and soon people will go back to wondering ‘who’s my cheapest supplier? “”

In the long term, the U.S. government should help domestic PPE producers by negotiating trade deals that guarantee comparable wages in Asian factories — rather than subsidizing U.S. companies, he said.

“Once the largest set of suppliers exporting to the United States raises their standards, both in quality and ethics, then everyone in the market is obligated to raise theirs,” he said. he declared.

Momin and Ratigan agree.

“The U.S. government must be brave and step up and, at the very least, institute the necessary tariffs to punish those who use slave laborers who produce counterfeit items, including medical gloves, and allow American competitors, like us, to compete. at a playground level,” Ratigan said.