In this dangerous time, the chemical industry is in an important position, with the ability to bring its expertise in formulation and production to help provide solutions to various aspects of COVID-19.

Polymeric Group, an inkjet and screen ink and coating specialist headquartered in Kansas City, MO, is an exceptional example of a company using its knowledge and skills to benefit their community. Using its inventory, formulation experience and manufacturing expertise, Polymeric’s team developed and is producing hand sanitizers to donate to area healthcare facilities. The company has set aside a portion of its manufacturing capacity to produce its hand sanitizers.

Terry Amerine, VP sales & marketing for Polymeric, said that the company quickly recognized the need for supplies, and saw an opportunity to help their community.

“We all realize our nation is facing an unprecedented crisis concerning COVID-19, and our healthcare providers are running short of critically needed supplies to keep them safe as they treat those fighting the virus,” Amerine said.

One possibility was creating hand sanitizers, and Polymeric’s R&D team knew they had the materials on hand. It was a matter of creating the formula, and on their own time, the team came up with a stronger hand sanitizer and disinfectant.

“Our R&D team realized that we utilize materials in our normal business that could actually exceed the FDA regulations for a hand sanitizer and disinfectant,” Amerine noted. “We were fortunate that one of our QC team members makes soaps and bath salts as part of her home business. So, they all came in this past weekend, on their own time, and worked to develop the formulations.”

Amerine noted that the biggest challenge was raw materials.

“The biggest advantage we had was the fact that we had all the necessary raw materials in stock,” he added. “That is also the biggest challenge in continuing to supply the product as we are struggling to get the necessary materials. Our R&D team typically develops ink and coatings for a wide variety of applications – so, not to be immodest, but formulating a hand sanitizer is relatively easy by comparison.”

Once the first batch was made, finding where to donate the hand sanitizers was easy.

“We were fortunate that our R&D manager had a college friend who was connected to the supply chain for this type of product,” Amerine said. “They were able to quickly put us in touch with the companies who could get the product where it was needed the most. The response has been ‘we will take all you can make and how soon can you get it here.’

“We have been able to get some of the hand sanitizer to local medical facilities as well as grocery stores and other businesses that are pretty much on the ‘front line,'” Amerine added. “The remaining amount we did sell to a distribution company that is better able to get it to the various ‘hot spot’ areas much more quickly than we could ourselves. We hope that we can continue to supply the product but it will come down to finding the materials to do so. Sadly, they will probably limit how much we can make. We will make as much as we can, given the availability of materials.” 

Source: Polymeric Group