Security Camera company SCW begins manufacturing PPE Gowns

My company doesn’t normally make things.

Yeah, we write some software, but normally we just provide services: sales, support, distribution, and security and electrical contracting.

We’re making PPE gowns, now.

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The decision to do came down to one thing: relationships. Specifically:

Mothers. Sisters. Spouses.

Of the 3 people who came in on a weekend to create these PPE gown prototypes, every single one had a close family member who worked in healthcare.

That’s what inspired us to made PPE Gowns from what we had: plastic sheeting (left over from painting), rubber bands, knives, and heat (from heatguns or irons).

Mothers. Sisters. Spouses.

That’s what inspired us to offer them at cost (mostly labor, but we’ll get to that later) with a Pay-What-You-Can model, to commit to donating them if someone couldn’t pay, and to show other people how to make them.

We worked with two health care providers, here, locally to create the designs and modified existing designs we found online to make them more protective. We wanted to find a way to protect the people we loved, but we found something else:

A Market

In 48 hours, we’ve been lucky to work with healthcare providers in 7 states. From Florida to California, Texas to Illinois, we’ve been able to field requests for our little, unlicensed, sold-at-cost “Rubber Band Hand PPE Gowns.” That’s how big this need is.

We had no connection to manufacturing. We have no history of medical fulfilment. We have no industrial production capabilities. We’re making them by hand (#artisanal). Yet, clients found us.

#NoLayoffs

We’re happy to have survived thus far with no layoffs, furloughs, pay reductions, or hours cut. Our goal is to maintain that throughout this crisis. Part of the reason that we’ve been able to do that is through measures like this PPE Gown program.

Take the #COVID Mobilize Creativity Challenge. Find something that you can do to:

Save a Life.
Save a Job.
Help Rebuild your Community.

CEO of Security Camera Warehouse, INC
an INC 5000 company