Article : La Nouvelle République, 6 May 2020
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Textile manufacturing itself is not what Berry Services does; in normal times, the Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre-based company operates in the field of processing and packaging ready-to-wear garments for e-commerce and large retailers –
a field that has not escaped economic paralysis. As such, its director Jean-Claude Benéteau has steered the company's activity towards the production of masks and aprons. “It all came about when we met Christophe Ruiz, a GP in Neuvy, who, faced with the shortage of health protection equipment, asked my company to manufacture some," explains Benéteau. The task proved to be much more complicated than it sounds. We don't have the resources to start high volume production. We therefore had to design the models, adjust the equipment, find the raw material, and call back staff who had been absent since the start of lockdown. Given the urgency, we used our stocks and the means at hand and donated the first prototypes of masks and gowns to the most exposed healthcare workers.”
“Getting our masks approved delayed their production by two weeks," he adds. The raw materials used in the manufacture of the masks must meet the highest standards of breathability and impermeability and comply with the most rigorous specifications. “ The masks produced "can be washed twenty times”, and meet AFNOR and AGN standards. "The gowns and aprons, in cotton or polyester, can also be washed several times and reused,” says Sophie Bardet, who designed the products and has overseen their manufacture.
Production remains modest and circumstantial and is intended exclusively for healthcare companies and professionals. Four thousand masks and hundreds of gowns are being manufactured and are awaiting delivery.
