AirBoss makes moves to supply needed goods during pandemic

NEWMARKET, Ontario—AirBoss of America Corp.'s defense group continues to carry a heavy load during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, the company has proven that it's up to the task—thanks in part to a solid, versatile work force, a group of adaptable plants and the merger of the firm's defense operation with Critical Solutions International Inc., creating Airboss Defense Group, at the beginning of January.

Since March, the business has been awarded several large, medium and smaller contracts from various entities within the U.S government and other countries to produce a variety of respirator systems and personal protection equipment to combat the virus.

In addition, the company has been selected to provide a variety of different survivability offerings to primarily military and government customers, separate from the COVID-19 orders.

AirBoss rushed into the battle with the coronavirus in late March when it received a $96.4 million contract from the U. S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for the manufacture of 100,000 FlexAir Powered Air Purifying Respirator systems, 600,000 filters and related accessories in a short time span.

It was a hard order to fill, but the operations team at AirBoss "was able to execute a nearly impossible task because FEMA needed the 100,000 PAPRs in 100 days in order to quickly get this critical PPE to hospitals around the country," said Chris Bitsakakis, president and chief operating officer of the firm.

"We dedicated over 40 people to manage the global supply chain as well as the production ramp-up across five AirBoss factories," he said. "Our production employees (throughout the company) stepped up and were willing to put themselves at risk during the height of the pandemic in order to protect the doctors and nurses on the front lines.

"It was really amazing to witness the dedication and commitment. We are extremely proud of what our employees accomplished and continue to accomplish as we replenish the national stockpile."

The Newmarket-based company successfully completed filling the FEMA contract at the end of July. It makes its PAPR systems at the company's plants in Landover, Md., and Auburn Hills, Mich.

High level of defense

AirBoss Defense Group's FlexAir PAPR system is compact and lightweight with an onboard lithium-ion battery installed in a waist-mounted blower unit. The design permits the use of two high efficiency particulate filters at a time providing protection against particulates, aerosols and biohazards, offering a high level of defense against viruses like COVID-19, according to the company.

Wearers of the system are protected by having contaminated air purified by filtration media mounted on the system blower and delivered by a lightweight breathing hose to the user's head cover, the firm said.

In late July, AirBoss Defense Group received another large order from the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for the manufacture of 50,000 PAPR systems, 3 million high efficiency filters and related accessories, including spare protective hoods, for delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile.

That contract is expected to be worth about $121 million. Shipments began in the third quarter and will continue through the balance of 2020 into the first quarter of 2021. Gren Schoch, chairman and CEO of AirBoss, said it is the largest single order the defense products group has received to date for the manufacture and supply of protective products.

In addition to the Health and Human Services award, the defense group received a $2.55 million sustainment order from the Veterans Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for 60,000 high efficiency filters and 20,000 protective hoods to establish a contingency stockpile of consumables to combat the coronavirus. The contract was fulfilled in August.

Latest awards

On Oct. 5, AirBoss announced that its defense group had been awarded $22 million in contracts for various survivability products from multiple parties in North America and globally.

"These latest contracts largely reflect the regular contribution from predominantly military and government customers as part of their overall defense and preparedness strategies, independent of their ongoing COVID-19 response," Bitsakakis said.

AirBoss said the awards include contracts for molded gloves and overboots for the United Arab Emirates, valued at $6.4 million; Husky ground penetrating radar and accessory orders for the Egyptian Regiment (a unit of the U.S. Army in Europe), worth about $5.8 million; and a Rollover Detection Warning System for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (another unit of the U.S. Army in Europe), valued at $2.1 million.

Also included in the $22 million package are a number of smaller orders from various groups in the U.S. with a focus on chemical and biological personal protective equipment, including mass casualty decontamination shelter systems and a variety of PAPR products.

Deliveries of these awards are expected to begin in the fourth quarter and span 24 months, he said.

AirBoss Defense Group's molded gloves and boots are made with injection-molded advanced specialty polymers and were designed and developed to provide physical properties and protection compared to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear products previously in service, and fully integrate with all currently fielded CBRN suits, the company said.

The group's Husky is a blast-survivable, mission configurable vehicle that deploys a range of radar and sensor systems for countermine and non-conventional explosive detection.

Its Rollover Detection Warning System advises the user of impending vehicle rollover conditions based on terrain operation and vehicle limitations/parameters, AirBoss said, adding that the technology allows vehicle operators to be alerted of dangerous conditions in order to adjust as necessary to mitigate the risk.

Bitsakakis noted the latest awards are not related to a Husky long-term contract extension announced on Sept. 28 or the more than $220 million in contracts the company has received since March.

"ADG, which has been very active in the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, offers domestic and international customers a range of survivability solutions across the CBRN spectrum for both first response and military applications," Bitsakakis said.

Quick conversion

AirBoss' Auburn Hills factory had been focused primarily on automotive parts until the pandemic struck and auto manufacturers cut back production in March. As the need for auto parts fell, AirBoss decided to transfer some protective products to Auburn Hills.

To cope with the heavy demand for filters, the company added a second urethane station at its Landover facility, Bitsakakis said. "Additionally, we had to establish a new powered air-purifying respirator line at our Auburn Hills facility in order to ramp up production to meet demand" during the pandemic, he said.

AirBoss transferred rubber molded boot production from its Acton Vale, Quebec, facility to Auburn Hills and kept protective glove manufacturing in Acton Vale. It then added the line to produce respirators at the Auburn Hills site as orders continued to grow.

Volumes for the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear gloves and boots remains high, Bitsakakis said. As the pandemic continues to evolve, he added, federal governments are examining ways to deal with current issues and remain prepared for the future.

In addition to the Oct. 5 order and the large contracts for respirators it was awarded in March and July, the company has been receiving orders regularly for its protective products from individual medical providers, major equipment distributors and government customers, according to Bitsakakis.

"Our team is fielding inquiries daily for protective equipment in response to COVID-19," he said. "Additionally, we are working with both commercial and government entities to aid in planning efforts for the continued COVID-19 response and stockpile initiatives."

AirBoss said that ADG's emergency response equipment and personal protection products are used by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Statistical Medical Preparedness, FEMA and CDC infectious disease treatment centers.

ADG and its predecessor companies have been designing and manufacturing PAPRs since 1985, supplying them primarily to all branches of the U.S. military.

And based on the firm's response when it received the first award from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management agency in late March, Bitsakakis said, the company is "cementing its reputation for being able to deliver large volumes of product on short timelines."

AirBoss is no stranger to handling emergencies like the current pandemic. It also produced and supplied protective equipment to government and civilian first responder customers during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola outbreaks.

In its second quarter financial report, the company recorded sales of $112.5 million in the three month period, up 36 percent from the $82.6 million reported in the same quarter last year. Net income rose significantly to $14.4 million in the quarter from $3.31 million in the 2019 period.

AirBoss said the firm's strong second quarter results were driven by the large PPE award from FEMA and smaller orders.

The path forward

That's not the way it was looking earlier this year when some customers of the company—including the Big Three auto makers, tire manufacturers and related suppliers—elected to temporarily suspend operations. That in turn negatively impacted AirBoss late in the first quarter.

Although the firm's Rubber Solutions business remained open and operational, it did experience a decline in volumes beginning in April, which continued through part of May before beginning to recover, the firm said in its second quarter financial statement.

AirBoss temporarily suspended its Engineered Products' operations at the end of the first quarter until key customers began to re-start in mid-May. During that span, the company said it managed costs by temporarily laying off hourly and salaried employees while management accelerated its plan to begin producing some molded defense goods as well as PAPR systems at its Auburn Hills plant.

That move led to the return to work of some of the laid-off work force. It also helped utilize temporarily shuttered manufacturing capacity for the firm's anti-noise, vibration and harshness products business, which has started to ramp up again, AirBoss said.

After it reopened, the Engineered Products business began to see a recovery in volumes, especially in June.

AirBoss' management team said it believes that the future sourcing of personal protection products for first responders and medical professionals will change significantly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of its overall future emergency preparedness planning, the team said it expects a more unified and streamlined approach aimed at reducing complexity, shortening acquisition times and building strategic stockpiles, compared to the fragmented and complex distributor relationship arrangements seen previously.

Meanwhile, the company said it is moving ahead with installation of a new robotic work cell as well as the diversification of its product lines into sectors. adjacent to the automotive sector.