Irvine-based Bio-Medical Devices International, which is better known by its flagship product and alias MaxAir Systems, has “significantly ramped up” production to manage a surge in its facemask products and related breathing components to deal with the coronavirus.
The company plans to set raw material orders to “maximum levels,” push production facilities to “maximum capacity” and bolster its customer service staffing by four times its current size, it said late last month.
It’s also actively looking “to further expand beyond [its] current manufacturing facilities.”
The company’s Irvine base runs some 59,000 square feet.
Last week, the company said it would be working with Corona-based MasterStream ERP, a quote-to-cash automation software provider, to automate Bio-Medical’s medical equipment quoting and ordering “to accelerate the distribution of critical lifesaving medical personal protective equipment designed to abate the COVID-19 spread.”
“We are committing all income, in excess of that needed for mandatory expenses, to keep plant and equipment open, make expansions, and grow staffing,” Jake Herbert, the company’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
“We are putting everything on the table.”
Mercedes of Masks
Privately held Bio-Medical Devices was co-founded by Nick Herbert, its CEO. The company has also done business as Syntech International, which provides contract manufacturing for the medical device industry.
In 2016, the company sold its Syntech de Baja California division in Tijuana to Stryker Corp. on undisclosed terms. For two decades, that unit was the exclusive manufacturer of disposable hoods and togas for Stryker’s Steri-shield Personal Protection Equipment.
Photos of bruised and sweaty faces of healthcare workers wearing the same masks for multiple shifts have flooded social media the past month.
None of those workers are using MaxAir products.
The MaxAir respirator offers full-face frontal protection; the eyes, nose, and mouth are all covered by a shield. Its design also includes a motor, fan, and filter that are controlled by airflow within the helmet, which also provides protection and constantly purified air.
“This mask is a luxury item—it’s like the Mercedes Benz of masks,” Frank Ripullo II, founder and managing partner of Lake Forest-based Excelerant Consulting, told the Business Journal in March; the company was profiled in the March 23 print edition of the paper.
CDC Compliant
The MaxAir respirator starts at around $1,400. It also incorporates an LED display to notify a user of low battery power within the mask; the battery lasts up to 15 hours.
MaxAir is Center for Disease Control compliant for health workers to wear while treating COVID-19 patients, according to the company—many of its products were originally designed for and used for the Ebola outbreak.
“We value our users and healthcare workers committed to overcoming this terrible tragedy, and we remain confident and strengthened in our ability to meet increasing demand,” Herbert said.
