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Indonesian Clothing Maker Pivots From Prada to Hazmat Suits

Indonesian Clothing Maker Pivots From Prada to Hazmat Suits
Muhammad Fadli/Bloomberg | Operations inside the PT PAN Brothers garment factory in Solo, Central Java.

An Indonesian maker of clothes for Prada and Armani is now producing millions of hazardous material suits after the government called for help fighting Covid-19.

PT Pan Brothers, which also makes garments for Adidas, is pumping out jumpsuits along with millions of face-masks each week, many of then headed to front-line workers. While the focus has been on domestic distribution, it’s fielding calls from from potential buyers in the U.S., Australia and Europe. 

“We have already produced the first batch, which we committed to the government, which is 10 million masks and 100,000 jumpsuits,” Pan Brothers Vice Chief Executive Officer Anne Sutanto said in an interview. “We already delivered it all. Now we are in the second phase which is up to 100 million masks, 10 million disposable jump suits and one million washable jumpsuits.

Hazmat suit producer in East Jakarta. Image: Suara.com/Angga Budhiyanto
Hazmat suit producer in East Jakarta. Image: Suara.com/Angga Budhiyanto

 

Pan Brothers’s new focus on protective wear follows similar moves overseas, with iPhone assembler Foxconn and automaker General Motors Co. among those jumping into virus-related equipment production. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called on local companies for help as the country struggles to cope with a rising death toll and and an economy at risk of grinding to a halt amid restrictions on movement.

Indonesia’s medical equipment shortage has prompted some front-line health workers to wear raincoats for protection while the government estimates infections could reach 106,000 in July. A lack of testing in the country of 270 million people has raised concerns that the real impact of the coronavirus could be much higher. Indonesia’s death toll was 498, according to Johns Hopkins University data on Thursday, making it the highest in Asia outside China.

Widodo’s government has slashed its growth forecast for this year, with the economy expected to grow 2.3%, less than half the pre-outbreak projection of 5.3%. It has warned it could even contract 0.4% under a worst-case scenario. The International Monetary Fund this week also revised down its forecast for the country, estimating growth of just 0.5% in 2020 before a rebound sees expansion of 8.2% next year, a level not seen since the 1995 when the dictator Suharto was in power.

Hazmat suit producer. Image: Hazmat suit producer. Image: ANTARA FOTO/Destyan Sujarwoko/nz
Hazmat suit producer. Image: Hazmat suit producer. Image: ANTARA FOTO/Destyan Sujarwoko/nz

 

Pan Brothers is already producing one million washable masks per day, as well as 100,000 disposable protective suits and 30,000 washable jumpsuits per week. While it will soon accelerate production, that could be ramped up even further if not for social distancing rules that mean workers are kept six feet apart and work in shifts at its factories.

Sutanto said the company has proposed a quota system to the government, such as supplying 80% of production to Indonesia and 20% to the world.

“If Indonesia doesn’t need that much we can lower it to maybe 50% or whatever,” Sutanto said. “It’s not only about making money here but it’s also about how Indonesia, even though we still are in the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic, we can still help others.”


Source : Bloomberg

 

canonical:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-16/indonesian-clothing-maker-pivots-from-prada-to-hazmat-suits 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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