“We will reach a capacity of 150,000 FFP2 masks/day by May 15. They will be sent to the hospitals in the first line of defense against COVID-19, and to the Romanian industry, since we’ve got requests from a number of companies seeking to resume manufacturing operations while complying with the rules of the new health crisis,” said Mihai Filip, owner of Techtex.
The Filip family owns the Taparo group, which includes Taparo (Maramures County), Eurocomfil Invest (Maramures), Techtex (Bihor), 4Brands (Maramures) and employs a total of 1,600 people. Out of the 1,600, some 1,000 were furloughed for the lockdown and some 600 started making protective gear for the medical industry, Ioan Filip, Taparo chairman of the board, said.
Techtex started making surgical masks a month ago. Two weeks later it added two more assembly lines. It is now working in four shifts with three automated lines. Once the fourth line in place, the management expects production capacity to reach at least 450,000 masks per day.
The surgical masks made in April went to hospitals. Techtex also sends protective gear to the Romanian Gendarmerie, Police, military, TAROM, ROMATSA, city halls, etc. It also works with pharmaceutical companies, medical clinics and practices, insurance companies and banks, with the automotive and processing industry and with retailers.
It also makes some 30,000 gowns, 10,000 coveralls, 10,000 disposable caps and 10,000 shoe covers, as well as 2,000 bed linens per day, which mostly go to hospitals.
The Taparo group has decided to make the filtering fabric required by masks, as well as composite materials used in gowns, coveralls, and bedding, and the textile fabric needed for diapers and napkins in Romania. It has devised a medium and long-term plan for this to build a manufacturing facility and buy an assembly line. The project should cost EUR20 million, Ioan Filip said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)