Shawmut Corporation, together with its primary N95 mask production investor, The Fallon Company, has launched a NIOSH-approved Protex N95 mask with the patent-pending Protex ADC all-day-comfort system for prolonged use. Production lines are now operating, with a goal of creating up to 10 million masks per month by year-end to meet continued demand for domestically produced PPE. The company also announced a multi-year distribution contract for its N95 masks with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. representing one of many early orders for the Protex N95 particulate respirator.

 
Shawmut’s new domestic N95 manufacturing operation is based at the company’s West Bridgewater, MA headquarters and was created through a purpose-driven partnership with The Fallon Company and supported by a grant from Massachusetts’s Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (MERT), a program created to support in-state manufacturing of critical PPE items, including N95 masks, protective gowns, hand sanitizer, and ventilators. The new manufacturing facility, which went from concept to production in six months, is expected to create as many as 300 new jobs in Massachusetts. 
 

“As we continue to navigate the pandemic, ensuring a robust local supply of masks and other personal protective equipment will be critical to our ability to defeat the virus and work toward recovery,” says Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. “Our administration was proud to stand up the MERT Program to help manufacturers pivot their operations to produce key materials in response to COVID-19, and we look forward to continuing to work with innovative companies like Shawmut Corporation and The Fallon Company to keep residents safe and strengthen our economy.”

 
“The COVID-19 pandemic has put an incredible strain on the country’s healthcare system, and the overreliance on overseas PPE has led to continued shortages and massive counterfeiting of these critical products,” says majority investor Joseph Fallon, CEO of The Fallon Company. “We partnered with Shawmut to rapidly bring our vision for Made-in-America PPE to reality and make sure we are never again in a position where we have to worry if we will have enough high-quality, domestically-produced PPE to keep people safe and healthy.”

 
Shawmut’s CEO James Wyner remarks, “Shawmut’s 100+ years of experience in advanced materials manufacturing makes us a natural fit as a long-term domestic PPE manufacturer. It’s an honor to play a role in helping solve the country’s N95 mask shortage. We put our materials innovation expertise to use to create an industry-leading N95 mask that offers superior quality and safety as well as all-day comfort. And because we are manufacturing our masks here in the US, we can continually monitor quality, ship to market faster, and deliver our customers a better product at a competitive price.”
 

As part of its US-made Protex N95 initiative, Shawmut retrofitted nearly 70,000 square feet of industrial space to accommodate production. Its N95 facilities include: 
 
●       A multi-million-dollar investment of new equipment from Germany’s Reifenhäuser Reicofil, the world’s most advanced meltblown filter media production system, to produce its proprietary filter media in-house.  
●       A fully automated and flexible molded-cup-mask production system which, despite being the most challenging type of N95 mask to manufacture, has proved to be critical in providing a unique combination of a secure fit and lasting comfort to broaden usage of the Protex N95 particulate respirator.  
●       An onsite materials testing lab and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment that allows the team to test its products in-house and will help foster rapid development of future mask products. 
 

“This is another example of how we are cross-collaborating with other industries to help keep our population safe,” says Lisa Witte, president, Fisher Scientific channel, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are ready to get these N95 respirators into the hands of those who need them most.”