At a time when it seems the whole world has been put on hold, our nation’s PPE manufacturers and essential supply infrastructure are busier than ever, and RS Industrial is committed to helping them resolve obstacles that come up during these critical times.

Last week, a customer contacted RS Industrial looking for a solution for bonding foam padding and plastic to urgently produce medical face shields. This customer had already tried a few solutions, but none gave them the speed and quality they needed to handle the sudden increase in demand. With the COVID-19 pandemic, our customer needed an adhesive that would allow them to send PPE product to the front lines as quickly as possible. We overnighted them a sample of our Adhesive K, an Adhesive Squares™ brand adhesive tape product that has been approved for direct skin contact and has been used in surgical drapes and camera covers in operating rooms. Meanwhile, our production team worked on designing a product with perforations and easy pull tabs that would make the product an exact fit for the mask, require zero equipment or electrical outlets (not even scissors!), and allowed workers a thumb grip that would allow for easy and fast removal of the release liner.

The following day the customer received a sample, demoed the adhesive, and “loved” it—their words! RS Industrial was also able to present the customer with the custom engineered product that would be perforated and sized to their exact specifications, allowing for easy and precise application. After approval from the customer, our production team quickly set out to manufacture the 100,000 strips of this new, custom Adhesive Squares™ product and shipped them to our customer the very next day. From initial call to product out the door, we were able to deliver the solution in just 72 hours.

“This is a great example of RSI in action,” says Mike Byrne, Director of Distribution & Key Accounts for RS Industrial. “Starting with technical support that was able to recommend an excellent product to manufacturing that responded quickly to produce quality product to customer service that worked to ensure timely delivery, our quick response allowed us to supply a product to help in the manufacturing of face shields which are much needed in today’s environment.”

In this case, the protection of lives was the real end use application, and RS Industrial and Adhesive Squares™ delivered a solution in a matter of a few days at a time when time is of the essence.

For more information about RS Industrial and how we can deliver solutions for your specific adhesive applications, please call 1-800-844-1740 or email info@adhesivesquares.com.