Specialty Fabrics Review October 2020 - 38

impact, although we did experience
some gaps as our suppliers adjusted their
processes to be pandemic safe," Semonelli
says. "But we anticipated a lot of this and
held company-wide team meetings to
plan accordingly and did experience little
impact on our deliveries."

When the pandemic struck, MMI Textiles
pivoted to personal protective equipment
(PPE), providing textiles used in the
manufacturing of face masks, such as
a Berry-compliant nylon and spandex
fabric that is digitally printed with a
classic MultiCam® pattern (above). The
3/32-inch polyester Shock Cord (below)
with synthetic latex rubber can take the
place of the typical elastic used for face
masks. Photos: MMI Textiles Inc.

PANDEMIC REVELATIONS
Disasters tend to lay bare weakness, and
this pandemic has proven no exception.
The tent rental industry is comprised of
"hard-working, independent, feisty entrepreneurs," Gentsch says, but at the same
time, the virus has revealed how vulnerable
and unprepared the industry was in the face
of this crisis. (To be fair, the entire world
seems to have been caught flat-footed.)
If party rental companies are to
weather significantly reduced bookings
and a constricted selling season, the
industry must find a way to restore
consumer confidence that gathering
outside under a tent is much safer than

being inside a building with recirculating
HVAC systems, he says.
"We also have to do a better job of
promoting different use and rental
applications for tents in nontypical
business and industry segments to create
additional needed space for long-term
rentals," Gentsch adds.
He also suggests rethinking the supply
chain, mentioning that some who sourced
components from Asia encountered
difficulties in obtaining the necessary
parts. Bircher says the weakest link
revealed so far during the pandemic has
been the PPE supply chain of both raw
materials and finished products.
"We have all discovered there is just not
enough capacity in the U.S. to support the
current demand for PPE product," she says.
"The Berry Amendment for military is a
big reason why fabric suppliers that work
on military contracts were able to step up
and help the demand in supply. Without
the Berry Amendment that supply would
have been far worse."
Although MMI's regular business is
holding steady, having experienced just a
slight production dip compared to 2019,
the company is still monitoring COVID's
impact, Bircher says, anticipating that
there might be issues waiting to surface
down the road. At the same time, having
established supply solutions with strategic
partners, MMI is committed to PPE for the
long term, she adds.
As more companies turned to PPE
production, the supply of materials used
for these as well as non-PPE products has
become increasingly tight, resulting in
some shortages, says Fennell.
"There are gaps in the domestic supply
of certain materials and products," she says.
"The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted
the opportunities for the development of
domestic supply for materials that have
been previously offshored. We cannot
continue to be reliant on foreign supply
chains for any specific product."

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Specialty Fabrics Review October 2020

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