Sarzeau (France) (AFP)

Coronavirus forces companies to adapt. In the Morbihan region, a nautical fabric manufacturing company has converted to emergency production of protective visors for carers, while a specialist in medical beds is running at full speed.

Made in Sarzeau (Morbihan), with "flexible materials", these visors, widely used in China during the coronavirus crisis, have the advantage of being able to be worn all day, and also washed.

It is a "mechanical protection" that adapts to the head, "a screen avoiding the projection of postillons simply", said AFT Thierry Plagué, CEO of Guardtex.

The company, which usually produces fabrics for offshore racing boats, first delivered the Brest CHU before receiving orders. The visors go "to hospitals, health centers, ephad and businesses that want to get back to work and need to increase the barrier measures taken to protect their employees," said the CEO.

Approached by the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Brittany to produce masks, the company "imagined to make a protection with the materials with which we are used to working", underlines Mr. Plagué.

"Originally, we did it so that people could continue their professional activity. We didn't make it a product intended for health personnel, but the majority of the orders we receive today, it’s for hospitals, "said the boss of Guardtex, also known as Aerec Sellerie nautique (SNA).

Fifteen employees currently work 24 hours a day to produce 2,000 visors per day. "We are in a very complicated situation. The people are very mobilized, very proud, we have taken people to reinforce."

- one bed every four minutes -

If theoretically, the production capacity could reach 20,000 visors / day, "the main concern is the supply of materials" says Mr. Plagué who asks suppliers of flexible crystal, neoprene, and Velcro to publicize.

As the company "will soon reach saturation, I proposed to the nautical industries, in particular, to provide them with the plans and files necessary for the manufacture of this shield to avoid that they waste time" produce.

For the CEO, this visor has only one limit: "It is a screen, it is not the miracle cure against the coronavirus, but one of the barrier measures".

A few tens of kilometers from Sarzeau, in Pluvigner, the Hill-Rom company, specialized in particular in the manufacture of medical beds, is also running at full speed.

"We had to cope with the increase of more than 30% in activity" and "we had to adjust our capacity", explains Marc Capdeville, director of the site, who notes: "We have grown to 1,200 beds per week in manufacturing. You have to know that you take out a bed every four minutes. "

"The impact is to shoot in two teams (...) It starts at 5:00 am until 10:00 in the evening. We used temporary workers to deal with this influx of orders", continues the director.

"These beds," says Mr. Capdeville, "go to the hospital for resuscitation, medium stay, short stay ... They are day beds but (used) beyond." "In fact, he sums up, a bed is a life."

© 2020 AFP