A Vancouver company is the first to sell Canadian-made surgical N95s approved for doctors on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 already made a million of them.
CEO Jae Park of Inno Lifecare, a division of global confectionary Inno Foods, made the news public Thursday (March 25).
The Tri-City facility pumped out a million respirators in its first week since being authorized by Health Canada.
B次元官网网址淏y next week, we will be shipping two-and-a-half million masks to Canadian health care facilities in need,B次元官网网址� Park said, mentioning a contract in the works with B.C.B次元官网网址檚 government.
The N95 masks are manufactured in-house using 95 per cent Canadian materials and technology created by company engineers.
Inno Foods expanded last year to add medical-grade masks to its list of offerings.
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The family-owned company had already been using robots to process a high volume of goods, said Park.
B次元官网网址淪caling quickly to supply Canada with medical masks wasnB次元官网网址檛 very hard to do when we were already supplying the whole world with food.B次元官网网址�
Especially with motivation after seeing the country B次元官网网址渃aught with its pants downB次元官网网址� during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Park.
B次元官网网址淐anada doesnB次元官网网址檛 make too many high-value manufactured items. We rely on other countries but donB次元官网网址檛 have leverage because we outsource.B次元官网网址�
The N95 masks will help change this, he said, allowing the country to depend less on U.S. suppliers for certified personal protective equipment.
In the United States, N95 prices are as high as $5 per respirator. Inno Lifecare is able to supply the masks directly to hospitals for half the price.
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The B.C. company is also the first to use blockchain technology, allowing users to view a maskB次元官网网址檚 supply chain by scanning a QR code.
B次元官网网址淧eople can see how their individual mask was made, starting even from raw materials used,B次元官网网址� said Park. B次元官网网址淗ere in Canada, proudly.B次元官网网址�
With the capacity to make a million N95 masks per week, the founder said B次元官网网址渋f someone in Canada needs N95 masks B次元官网网址� we will deliver.B次元官网网址�
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sarah.grochowski@bpdigital.ca
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