Manufacturer invests to help protect frontline healthcare workers

West Yorkshire-headquartered based PFF has invested in new folding equipment to speed up production of disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The new equipment will work alongside PFF’s recently installed custom-built PPE manufacturing machinery and comes on the back of the company’s appointment by the Department of Health and Social Care to produce 360 million aprons for frontline NHS and healthcare workers.

The contract has already seen the company create 100 new jobs and invest more than £2m in the machines, as well as establish a health division.

Recognising that a higher volume of pre-folded film was needed to feed the PPE producing machines than was readily available on the open market, the PFF Group team commissioned new machinery that would speed up the process.

Lee Wilkinson, PFF Group supply chain manager said: “Machine speed is critical to enable us to hit production targets.

“We were already using 100 tonnes of pre-folded sheet but needed a minimum of an additional 30 tonnes of folded film sheet per week to deliver on the contract.

“Investing in the new machinery and further staff training has enabled us to fold the sheet ourselves, speeding up production as the new machines are running much faster with output currently at 50 tonnes a week.”

PFF Group, based in Keighley and Washington, Tyne and Wear, is one of the UK’s largest independent food packaging manufacturers, providing innovative packaging solutions to supermarkets, multi-national food manufacturers, food service and fresh produce companies across the UK.

During the pandemic, PFF is using its expertise in the food sector to meet the increased global demand for PPE, as well as continuing to support the UK’s food retail sector through the production and supply of food packaging.