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It couldn't go fast enough for Kai Rinklake: It wasn't until December that the managing director of Skylotec, a medium-sized company from Rhineland-Palatinate, started manufacturing protective masks.
In a few days, the first production plant should now be running at full capacity.
With a monthly volume of 20 million so-called surgical masks.
This is new for the entrepreneur.
So far, Skylotec has mainly produced fall protection for climbers in industry and in the leisure sector.
The company from Neuwied applied for funding for the production of protective masks from the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi) - with success.
At the end of November, the federal government issued a funding decision in the amount of 3.2 million euros for setting up a machine park.
Skylotec exceeded the given schedule.
"According to the funding decision, we shouldn't have started until April," says Rinklake.
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The federal government should be pleased, as it has set itself an ambitious goal: to make Germany as independent as possible of mask deliveries from abroad.
"The strengthening of production in Germany and Europe is an important lesson from the crisis," explains a ministry spokeswoman.
Because at the beginning of the pandemic, the strong dependency on mask production from abroad became apparent, above all from China.
The coronavirus outbreak had torn supply chains apart, and urgently needed protective equipment was in short supply as a result.
Current figures suggest that the federal government will achieve the goals it has set itself.
If the latest notifications are included, additional production capacities for a total of seven and a half billion protective masks have been funded so far, as figures from the BMWis show.
This includes 5.7 billion surgical masks and 1.8 billion FFP2 and FFP3 masks.
Permanently competitive production in Germany?
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Peter Altmaier's (CDU) house has been providing a total of 100 million euros since last spring with the help of various funding programs to stimulate the production of masks and fleece, the most important preliminary product.
Ten billion pieces per year should come permanently from German plants - that would correspond to the need for medical protective masks.
“We achieve that too,” explains a spokeswoman.
Last spring, the BMWi started its plan for protective equipment “made in Germany”.
By the end of August, it had therefore distributed a total of almost 40 million euros to 46 production sites for nonwovens.
The initial bottleneck in fleece and mask production has been successfully eliminated.
In addition, the federal government has funded systems that are already available on the market and assumed 30 percent of the investment costs for 135 companies.
However, the ministry is likely to hope for significantly more from its latest efforts, the so-called innovation program.
Companies receive up to 50 percent funding for the acquisition of systems and components as well as for their own development work.
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The goal: a permanently competitive production in Germany.
By the end of last week, 41 funding notices had been drawn up, with the help of which German companies should start making masks in the future.
But that's not all: The responsible Federal Office for Economics and Export Control will issue further permits, announced the Ministry of Economics.
It will take some time, however, for all the masks from the innovation program to roll off the production lines in German companies.
“The companies will start production in the next few months,” it says.
So companies like Skylotec are the notable exception.
But right now the need is great - not least because of the compulsory wearing of medical masks in supermarkets and trains.
"We can ensure that on this scale"
Shortly before that, in mid-December, the BMWi started an unprecedented distribution campaign.
34 million eligible citizens should each pick up 18 FFP2 masks from the pharmacy: first upon presentation of their identity card, then by means of a complex and expensive voucher system - for which Spahn received massive criticism and at the beginning of February the remuneration of the pharmacies was sharply reduced.
Because because his ministry determined an average price of 4.29 euros each in mid-October, pharmacists were reimbursed six euros - a moon price, as many politicians and even pharmacists criticized.
Because when the relevant ordinance came into force on December 15th, the purchase price was barely 70 cents.
"We rely on domestic production and transport," said Spahn in December.
Between 400 and 600 million masks should get into the hands of those entitled by mid-February: “We can ensure this on this scale because we have sufficient production and availability in Germany and Europe for the masks,” said Spahn in December.
However, statements from dealers suggest otherwise.
Achim Theiler currently sells three to four million FFP2 masks - per month.
He is the managing director of the Bavarian company Franz Mensch, which imports protective equipment from the Far East.
When Markus Söder recently announced that the FFP2 mask would be required in Bavaria in just a few days, the telephones would no longer have stood still, says Theiler.
“An average price of 4.29 euros is far too high.
At the end of October, we were already offering FFP2 masks for less than one euro. ”The retail price is currently under 70 cents.
“Due to the strong demand, the goods have to be ordered by air freight, which increases prices.
Despite everything, we try to keep prices stable.
It is important to meet the demand as soon as possible so that excessive prices are removed from the market. "
"In the worst case, you get stuck with the goods"
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But one date worries Theiler: The Chinese New Year celebrations on February 12th - in China, work is often suspended for weeks around the festivities.
“If you order large quantities shortly before this date, you can wait up to four weeks or more for production.
In addition there is the time for the transport route to Germany. "
Because even if there will probably be no wet and happy mass celebrations in 2021 out of caution: Millions of migrant workers who are otherwise in the factories will travel across the country to their families.
“If supplies from China stop, there is a risk of prices rising,” fears Theiler.
"This is currently the case because no new goods can be reordered."
Actually, dealers like Theiler are big beneficiaries of the huge demand.
For him, however, there is little reason to be happy: “We shop for several million, but we have no planning security.
In the worst case, you will be left with the goods. "
And with the stricter mask requirement, many retailers have changed the ordering process: Many have switched to air freight so that the goods arrive faster.
Because if the masks come by ship, it can take up to 40 days for them to reach the consumer.
Theiler calculates: "For a delivery of around three million masks a month we pay around $ 2,000 for sea freight - if the goods arrive on the plane, delivery costs can be up to $ 200,000." That surgical masks are now also part of the new regulation , ensure relaxation: "Millions of surgical masks have been in storage for months, there are no bottlenecks."
90 percent of all medical masks from Asia
More than 90 percent of all medical masks still come from Asia, says Theiler.
"Little by little, German producers are also getting into the business, but the share shouldn't be more than five percent."
Pharmacist Hendrik Müller from Lower Saxony made a similar observation.
“It's a very broad market.
In the last few weeks the proportion of FFP2 masks from Germany in the total amount has certainly increased, but it is almost impossible to give an exact number. "
And even if the last production steps take place in this country: Most of the raw materials, especially nonwovens, are imported from the Far East.
"The market will be able to meet the demand, even if it increases now."
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You don't have the feeling that bottlenecks are looming.
Even for the time around the Chinese New Year, Müller does not fear a major slump.
“In recent years, the Chinese New Year has not had a major impact on the import of protective equipment, including pharmaceuticals,” says the pharmacist.
Create an emergency reserve
But now the demand is increasing again.
Because recipients of social benefits should also be able to pick up free FFP2 masks in pharmacies.
The Ministry of Labor and Health are starting another distribution round: This time the complex detour via the Bundesdruckerei's voucher system is skipped; it is sufficient to present a letter from the health insurance company to the pharmacies.
In order to store the huge amounts centrally and distribute them quickly, according to WELT information, the Federal Ministry of Health rents huge capacities for the storage and later issue of personal protective equipment.
Specifically, these are FFP2 masks, surgical masks and protective gowns, for which an emergency reserve is created.
In total, the Ministry is reserving the enormous number of 132,000 pallet spaces.
A good 64 million euros are to be invested for this, according to a tender.
As it is said, the BMG has concluded contracts for the delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) produced in Germany, among other things.
Therefore, unspecified large quantities would be delivered.
"These goods must first be stored and, if necessary, distributed."
Since the ministry does not have its own logistics resources, it depends on the support of external logistics service providers.
The overall order for storage was therefore broken down into six partial orders (lots), each with 22,000 pallet spaces, which are to be used from March 1st.
The winners of the tender include the logistics experts DHL Solutions, Georg Boll and Schenker Germany.
And after the pandemic?
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Some textile companies, on the other hand, are less likely to be happy about the new focus - away from everyday masks and towards more medical masks.
Hundreds of manufacturers switched their production to mask production in spring 2020.
Most of them, however, were mouth-nose protection made of cotton or other fabrics - with which one is no longer even allowed to enter a supermarket or the train.
“The companies had to weigh up once more whether the mask production, which they entered into at short notice, was economically profitable,” says the General Association of the German Textile and Fashion Industry, somewhat cautiously.
And another question arises: what will happen to the domestic mask industry when the pandemic is over?
As early as July, a spokeswoman for the textile association said that an internationally competitive production of PPE in Germany would not be possible for many companies in the long term.
The main reason: the domestic production cannot keep up with the cheap prices from Asia.
“Nothing has changed in the situation that we have the highest energy prices and also some of the highest wage costs worldwide in Germany,” says the spokeswoman.
The price of CO2, which has increased since January 2021, only exacerbates the situation.
It is also clear to the BMWi that the need for masks will decrease again after the pandemic, as a spokeswoman explains.
"Companies can only be permanently competitive in the market economy if they offer competitive prices or a product with which above-average prices can be achieved on the market."
The federal government has therefore specifically promoted investments in systems that, among other things, meet these requirements, it is said.
In addition, Peter Altmaier's house specifically supports the industry with a funding program for research and development.
Skylotec boss Rinklake also believes in good business after the pandemic: “The large numbers of recalls of various imported products raise awareness of quality and reliability in the supply chain,” he says.
In addition, his company is already planning the production processes in such a way that Skylotec can manufacture at global market costs.