Kingsmoor Packaging supports NHS frontline with one-piece PPE visor
Leading thermoformed packaging specialist, Kingsmoor Packaging (KPL), has turned its technical expertise to producing personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The company has already supplied nearly 100,000 units to various frontline staff, which
include Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. Over the next few weeks, the company is set to increase capacity to over 600,000 visors per week.
Given the ongoing supply issues with PPE, particularly visors, Kingsmoor Packaging decided to help. Being a BRC AA graded plastic food packaging manufacturer, their factory benefits from having in-house tooling and design, operating in tandem with production. By making full use of their design, technical and engineering expertise, they were quickly able to develop a single piece thermoformed face visor to protect frontline NHS staff against Covid-19. The visor is made from clear APET, is low gauge, weighs only 40 grams and incorporates an anti-fog coating to avoid steaming up. Being a single-use cost-effective solution, the visor is easily mass-produced and straightforward to ship and store in large quantities.
“Our ambition was to create a product that filled capacity in our factory, whilst helping the NHS with their PPE requirements,” said Kingsmoor Packaging’s managing director, James Hill. “Thereafter if any profits are made outside of what we would normally expect to run our business, they will be given back to the NHS and other charities.”
“The KPL visor was launched on social media last month and the response was overwhelming,” he added. “Through the support of our material supplier, AMB, we were able to produce visor samples very quickly and then start to send them out to all interested parties. We were then introduced to Unilever who were helping to support various Covid-19 projects by bringing people together using their contacts and extensive resources. Working with Unilever and then Liverpool University, we were introduced to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, which is where our visor trials began.”
Since initial introductions, Kingsmoor Packaging has refined their design, making it work even better in fast-pace hospital environments. Whilst the firm is continuing to supply frontline workers, talks with the Covid-19 PPE procurement team to supply the NHS centrally, are progressing.
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