- To meet the need for masks, the services of the State and the Hautes-Pyrénées department called on local resources to create a production chain for washable masks.
- Nervures, which designs and manufactures paragliding and parachute sails, has reconverted its production to manufacture these masks, in partnership with other local companies.
- For his boss, this crisis shows the importance of being able to count on a local industry.
At the beginning, Jean-Marie Bernos thought of producing some masks for the home helpers of the association of services to the person who intervenes in the villages of his valley. But at the end of last week, everything accelerated for the owner of Nervures, a small SME in the Hautes-Pyrénées which designs and manufactures paragliders and parachute sails in Soulom.
In one weekend, with the support of the prefecture and department services, he converted the production of his small business of 15 people, thus participating in the fight against the spread of the virus.
@NervuresFly #hautespyrenees will produce protective masks
- reorientation of #production and mobilization of 10 employees
- from #locale sheets
- successful prototypes and tests
- 1000 masks per day
🙏😀https: //t.co/avsTaMzoJJ
"Last week, it bothered me, I called the former manager of the company whose wife is a nurse and we said we could make it," he recalls. His goodwill coincides with the desire of the State services and the Department to quickly structure a supply of washable cotton fabric masks.
30,000 masks ordered
A phone call from the Bagnères-de-Bigorre sub-prefecture later, which was a simple idea, became reality. “Over the weekend, we designed several prototypes that the state services validated as well as a doctor. The one selected is functional, it has four thicknesses, it works. They sent us unused laundry sheets to make them. The department placed an initial order for 25,000 masks for us and the prefecture another for 5,000 masks, ”continues Jean-Marie Bernos.
Since Monday, the Nervures team has been cutting, assembling and sewing. The departmental council coordinates the logistics. The former Blanchisserie des Gaves in Soulom and the Blanchisserie des Pyrénées in Lourdes have made available several km2 of cloth. The Recuperation Action 65 workshops have volunteered to take care of the cleaning of the masks and their packaging before their distribution.
Importance of Made in France
No question of competing with the classic mask manufacturers, those " made in Soulom" address "the needs of people who, even if they are not healthcare professionals, continue to work and expose themselves every day to allow the continuity of the life of the nation ”, indicates the prefecture.
In the premises of Nervures, all employees answered the call to start production, all of which is currently reserved. But his boss is ready to share his process with all those who would also like to get into production. “We receive encouragement. I hope this crisis will help people understand the importance of manufacturing in France and maintaining our know-how. We have relocated the entire textile industry and we are paying the consequences today. This shows the interest of a local industry, which responds when we need it, ”pleads Jean-Marie Bernos.
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- Paragliding
- Covid 19
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- Coronavirus
- Clothing