Texas surgical mask company only working 8 hour shifts 5 days a week.

[Dick Foster]

One of these days folks are going to come to the simple reality that the lowest price does not always equate to the best deal. In fact it rarely does, not when total value received is taken into account.

 

[Nostra]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Works fine for me.
If you have ad blocker you just need to allow the page.

No.

No you dont have ad blocker?

No I'm getting sick of not running my ad blocker every place I go to read. I got it for a reason. But it's okay. Although the OP was unable to summarize his link, depotoo shared it with me.

I wasn't unable to summarize anything. I'm just not here to hold the hand of lazy fucks. If you want to read it, do it. If you don't, don't. I don't give a shit.

 

[Nostra]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Here is some of it-
The common theme is that during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, his customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for two cents.

“Last time he geared up and went three shifts a day working his tail off,” the mayor recalled. “As soon as the issue died, he didn’t have any sales. He had to pay unemployment for all these people, and he had to gear down.”


As Bowen explained to Bannon, “I’ve been preaching this American-made story since 2007. Nobody listened. The whole mass market was only interested in price. I’ve been everywhere trying to get people to listen. I’ve talked to congressmen. I’ve talked to generals. I’ve written the president. I wrote President Obama five or six letters, and he sent me a presidential proclamation suitable for framing.”

Bowen wants a guaranteed contract, not a proclamation. It’s tough to win a bid to supply U.S. hospitals through their group purchase agreements that seek the cheapest price when your competitor pays low wages, ignores environmental concerns and is subsidized by a Communist government.


Last month, he got another proclamation but no contract to go with it. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, named Prestige Ameritech the “Senate Small Business of the Week.” The citation notes that the company “has ramped up their daily production to 600,000 masks.”

The company could do so much more.

The best intentions
The company is in a building originally used by Kimberly-Clark to make medical masks. But that company moved its operations to Mexico. When Prestige Ameritech opened in 2005, it was touted as a great day for the made-in-America movement.

By 2009, the company had grown strong enough to meet the demand caused by the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. Hospitals promised to stick with him afterward, but they broke their promise. The allure of cheaper Chinese masks was too great for hospital purchasing groups to ignore...
...
The company nearly went bankrupt. In 2012 the company took out a million-dollar loan.

Mayor Trevino recalls escorting Bowen around the Texas Capitol in Austin as Bowen made his case with state lawmakers for more government support.

“He was begging them to understand that we shouldn’t have all our masks made in China. He wanted a federal government contract that would keep him in steady business,” the mayor said, adding that Bowen wanted to help build a future stockpile for a pandemic that Bowen predicted would happen.

Trevino recalls Bowen saying, “If y’all don’t care about me in good times when everybody’s OK, how am I going to be there when you need me?”


And further down he mentions having to lay off 150 workers after H1N1.

Can't say I can blame the guy one little bit. He simply doesn't need any fair weather friends because they don't pay and they're not around when you need them. This nation is getting just it exactly what it deserves. We need more patriots and real businessmen and fewer MBAs, middlemen and beancounters with their infamous 90 day forward vision that caters only to idiotic analysts on wall street who chase only nickles and dimes for a day or two's profit.

But will people be able to afford the steep jump in Made in America products? Who eventually pays for .08 cents more per mask in a hospital? WE do. That is a 400% increase. And it would account for a lot more than a .10 cent face mask. I would love to see manufacturing come back. But I'm not so sure we can afford it. And we'll be able to buy a lot less. That affects the manufacturers too. I'm not sure we CAN go back. Have we painted ourselves into a corner?

Enjoy your shortage.....and your .08

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Should have signed the TPP...

This was the exact reason to do so... The Texan has a point, it is not just wages it is the other things they don't have to comply too as well...

TPP was about anyone who wants to trade with US has to come up to US standards. Too many times we see people here advocating that US go down to third world countries standard in Environment, Health and Safety and some even wages...

Think in EU they would allow this happen? Seriously, no... They have rules... EU are very happy not racing to the bottom and they can be quite cruel on any one making competing products in EU...

So how would that help with the cost disparity?

 

[depotoo]

Should have signed the TPP...

This was the exact reason to do so... The Texan has a point, it is not just wages it is the other things they don't have to comply too as well...

TPP was about anyone who wants to trade with US has to come up to US standards. Too many times we see people here advocating that US go down to third world countries standard in Environment, Health and Safety and some even wages...

Think in EU they would allow this happen? Seriously, no... They have rules... EU are very happy not racing to the bottom and they can be quite cruel on any one making competing products in EU...

So you’re ok with a country that tries to blackmail us?

 

[depotoo]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Works fine for me.
If you have ad blocker you just need to allow the page.

No.

No you dont have ad blocker?

No I'm getting sick of not running my ad blocker every place I go to read. I got it for a reason. But it's okay. Although the OP was unable to summarize his link, depotoo shared it with me.

Whats wrong with turning it off for a page you want to read?

I'm in a mood. You're not helping.

I get it. I was a couple of days ago.

 

[Care4all]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Here is some of it-
The common theme is that during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, his customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for two cents.

“Last time he geared up and went three shifts a day working his tail off,” the mayor recalled. “As soon as the issue died, he didn’t have any sales. He had to pay unemployment for all these people, and he had to gear down.”


As Bowen explained to Bannon, “I’ve been preaching this American-made story since 2007. Nobody listened. The whole mass market was only interested in price. I’ve been everywhere trying to get people to listen. I’ve talked to congressmen. I’ve talked to generals. I’ve written the president. I wrote President Obama five or six letters, and he sent me a presidential proclamation suitable for framing.”

Bowen wants a guaranteed contract, not a proclamation. It’s tough to win a bid to supply U.S. hospitals through their group purchase agreements that seek the cheapest price when your competitor pays low wages, ignores environmental concerns and is subsidized by a Communist government.


Last month, he got another proclamation but no contract to go with it. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, named Prestige Ameritech the “Senate Small Business of the Week.” The citation notes that the company “has ramped up their daily production to 600,000 masks.”

The company could do so much more.

The best intentions
The company is in a building originally used by Kimberly-Clark to make medical masks. But that company moved its operations to Mexico. When Prestige Ameritech opened in 2005, it was touted as a great day for the made-in-America movement.

By 2009, the company had grown strong enough to meet the demand caused by the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. Hospitals promised to stick with him afterward, but they broke their promise. The allure of cheaper Chinese masks was too great for hospital purchasing groups to ignore...
...
The company nearly went bankrupt. In 2012 the company took out a million-dollar loan.

Mayor Trevino recalls escorting Bowen around the Texas Capitol in Austin as Bowen made his case with state lawmakers for more government support.

“He was begging them to understand that we shouldn’t have all our masks made in China. He wanted a federal government contract that would keep him in steady business,” the mayor said, adding that Bowen wanted to help build a future stockpile for a pandemic that Bowen predicted would happen.

Trevino recalls Bowen saying, “If y’all don’t care about me in good times when everybody’s OK, how am I going to be there when you need me?”


And further down he mentions having to lay off 150 workers after H1N1.

Can't say I can blame the guy one little bit. He simply doesn't need any fair weather friends because they don't pay and they're not around when you need them. This nation is getting just it exactly what it deserves. We need more patriots and real businessmen and fewer MBAs, middlemen and beancounters with their infamous 90 day forward vision that caters only to idiotic analysts on wall street who chase only nickles and dimes for a day or two's profit.

But will people be able to afford the steep jump in Made in America products? Who eventually pays for .08 cents more per mask in a hospital? WE do. That is a 400% increase. And it would account for a lot more than a .10 cent face mask. I would love to see manufacturing come back. But I'm not so sure we can afford it. And we'll be able to buy a lot less. That affects the manufacturers too. I'm not sure we CAN go back. Have we painted ourselves into a corner?

the estimate of masks needed during a pandemic is 1.2 BILLION a year, at each costing 8 cents more, is $960 MILLION more for masks, in a pandemic year.....

it can be dollar averaged though, with half the masks made overseas and half the masks bought here, where we could be safe with USA contractors able to make them quickly and Chinese contractors to make them on the cheap....

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Here is some of it-
The common theme is that during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, his customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for two cents.

“Last time he geared up and went three shifts a day working his tail off,” the mayor recalled. “As soon as the issue died, he didn’t have any sales. He had to pay unemployment for all these people, and he had to gear down.”


As Bowen explained to Bannon, “I’ve been preaching this American-made story since 2007. Nobody listened. The whole mass market was only interested in price. I’ve been everywhere trying to get people to listen. I’ve talked to congressmen. I’ve talked to generals. I’ve written the president. I wrote President Obama five or six letters, and he sent me a presidential proclamation suitable for framing.”

Bowen wants a guaranteed contract, not a proclamation. It’s tough to win a bid to supply U.S. hospitals through their group purchase agreements that seek the cheapest price when your competitor pays low wages, ignores environmental concerns and is subsidized by a Communist government.


Last month, he got another proclamation but no contract to go with it. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, named Prestige Ameritech the “Senate Small Business of the Week.” The citation notes that the company “has ramped up their daily production to 600,000 masks.”

The company could do so much more.

The best intentions
The company is in a building originally used by Kimberly-Clark to make medical masks. But that company moved its operations to Mexico. When Prestige Ameritech opened in 2005, it was touted as a great day for the made-in-America movement.

By 2009, the company had grown strong enough to meet the demand caused by the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. Hospitals promised to stick with him afterward, but they broke their promise. The allure of cheaper Chinese masks was too great for hospital purchasing groups to ignore...
...
The company nearly went bankrupt. In 2012 the company took out a million-dollar loan.

Mayor Trevino recalls escorting Bowen around the Texas Capitol in Austin as Bowen made his case with state lawmakers for more government support.

“He was begging them to understand that we shouldn’t have all our masks made in China. He wanted a federal government contract that would keep him in steady business,” the mayor said, adding that Bowen wanted to help build a future stockpile for a pandemic that Bowen predicted would happen.

Trevino recalls Bowen saying, “If y’all don’t care about me in good times when everybody’s OK, how am I going to be there when you need me?”


And further down he mentions having to lay off 150 workers after H1N1.

Can't say I can blame the guy one little bit. He simply doesn't need any fair weather friends because they don't pay and they're not around when you need them. This nation is getting just it exactly what it deserves. We need more patriots and real businessmen and fewer MBAs, middlemen and beancounters with their infamous 90 day forward vision that caters only to idiotic analysts on wall street who chase only nickles and dimes for a day or two's profit.

But will people be able to afford the steep jump in Made in America products? Who eventually pays for .08 cents more per mask in a hospital? WE do. That is a 400% increase. And it would account for a lot more than a .10 cent face mask. I would love to see manufacturing come back. But I'm not so sure we can afford it. And we'll be able to buy a lot less. That affects the manufacturers too. I'm not sure we CAN go back. Have we painted ourselves into a corner?

the estimate of masks needed during a pandemic is 1.2 BILLION a year, at each costing 8 cents more, is $960 MILLION more for masks, in a pandemic year.....

it can be dollar averaged though, with half the masks made overseas and half the masks bought here, where we could be safe with USA contractors able to make them quickly and Chinese contractors to make them on the cheap....

I'd like to think the mask buying isnt going to be a regular thing for the average American.
And with the Chinese selling substandard shit.......?

 

[Care4all]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Here is some of it-
The common theme is that during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, his customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for two cents.

“Last time he geared up and went three shifts a day working his tail off,” the mayor recalled. “As soon as the issue died, he didn’t have any sales. He had to pay unemployment for all these people, and he had to gear down.”


As Bowen explained to Bannon, “I’ve been preaching this American-made story since 2007. Nobody listened. The whole mass market was only interested in price. I’ve been everywhere trying to get people to listen. I’ve talked to congressmen. I’ve talked to generals. I’ve written the president. I wrote President Obama five or six letters, and he sent me a presidential proclamation suitable for framing.”

Bowen wants a guaranteed contract, not a proclamation. It’s tough to win a bid to supply U.S. hospitals through their group purchase agreements that seek the cheapest price when your competitor pays low wages, ignores environmental concerns and is subsidized by a Communist government.


Last month, he got another proclamation but no contract to go with it. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, named Prestige Ameritech the “Senate Small Business of the Week.” The citation notes that the company “has ramped up their daily production to 600,000 masks.”

The company could do so much more.

The best intentions
The company is in a building originally used by Kimberly-Clark to make medical masks. But that company moved its operations to Mexico. When Prestige Ameritech opened in 2005, it was touted as a great day for the made-in-America movement.

By 2009, the company had grown strong enough to meet the demand caused by the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. Hospitals promised to stick with him afterward, but they broke their promise. The allure of cheaper Chinese masks was too great for hospital purchasing groups to ignore...
...
The company nearly went bankrupt. In 2012 the company took out a million-dollar loan.

Mayor Trevino recalls escorting Bowen around the Texas Capitol in Austin as Bowen made his case with state lawmakers for more government support.

“He was begging them to understand that we shouldn’t have all our masks made in China. He wanted a federal government contract that would keep him in steady business,” the mayor said, adding that Bowen wanted to help build a future stockpile for a pandemic that Bowen predicted would happen.

Trevino recalls Bowen saying, “If y’all don’t care about me in good times when everybody’s OK, how am I going to be there when you need me?”


And further down he mentions having to lay off 150 workers after H1N1.

Can't say I can blame the guy one little bit. He simply doesn't need any fair weather friends because they don't pay and they're not around when you need them. This nation is getting just it exactly what it deserves. We need more patriots and real businessmen and fewer MBAs, middlemen and beancounters with their infamous 90 day forward vision that caters only to idiotic analysts on wall street who chase only nickles and dimes for a day or two's profit.

But will people be able to afford the steep jump in Made in America products? Who eventually pays for .08 cents more per mask in a hospital? WE do. That is a 400% increase. And it would account for a lot more than a .10 cent face mask. I would love to see manufacturing come back. But I'm not so sure we can afford it. And we'll be able to buy a lot less. That affects the manufacturers too. I'm not sure we CAN go back. Have we painted ourselves into a corner?

the estimate of masks needed during a pandemic is 1.2 BILLION a year, at each costing 8 cents more, is $960 MILLION more for masks, in a pandemic year.....

it can be dollar averaged though, with half the masks made overseas and half the masks bought here, where we could be safe with USA contractors able to make them quickly and Chinese contractors to make them on the cheap....

I'd like to think the mask buying isnt going to be a regular thing for the average American.
And with the Chinese selling substandard shit.......?

i'm with ya....on something like this, it's too important to have these things made 3000 gazillion miles away and sub standard!

but corporations and industry are in it, to make money, thus for them, pennies count....

one solution for hospital chains, is they could expand with a subdivision, and manufacture them for themselves in the USA, cutting out the middle men..... no reason to not do such, since the hospitals will ALWAYS need a supply of them....

 

[Crepitus]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

A money grubbing republican at the mercy of other money grubbing republicans with the health and safety of our front line health professionals caught square in the middle


I'd say take everyone concerned down and start fresh.

 

[Nostra]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

A money grubbing republican at the mercy of other money grubbing republicans with the health and safety of our front line health professionals caught square in the middle


I'd say take everyone concerned down and start fresh.

You obviously didn't read the link, or you were just too stupid to understand it.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

And they have good reason.

If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

For more than a decade, Mike Bowen, who runs America's number one maker of hospital surgical masks, predicted a pandemic and warned of the perils of offshore...

www.dallasnews.com

Ad wall. What does it say?

Here is some of it-
The common theme is that during an outbreak like this, everybody wants to be his customer. But as soon as an outbreak subsides, his customers dump him and run back to China. The reason? His masks may cost a dime each, but a made-in-China mask might go for two cents.

“Last time he geared up and went three shifts a day working his tail off,” the mayor recalled. “As soon as the issue died, he didn’t have any sales. He had to pay unemployment for all these people, and he had to gear down.”


As Bowen explained to Bannon, “I’ve been preaching this American-made story since 2007. Nobody listened. The whole mass market was only interested in price. I’ve been everywhere trying to get people to listen. I’ve talked to congressmen. I’ve talked to generals. I’ve written the president. I wrote President Obama five or six letters, and he sent me a presidential proclamation suitable for framing.”

Bowen wants a guaranteed contract, not a proclamation. It’s tough to win a bid to supply U.S. hospitals through their group purchase agreements that seek the cheapest price when your competitor pays low wages, ignores environmental concerns and is subsidized by a Communist government.


Last month, he got another proclamation but no contract to go with it. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, named Prestige Ameritech the “Senate Small Business of the Week.” The citation notes that the company “has ramped up their daily production to 600,000 masks.”

The company could do so much more.

The best intentions
The company is in a building originally used by Kimberly-Clark to make medical masks. But that company moved its operations to Mexico. When Prestige Ameritech opened in 2005, it was touted as a great day for the made-in-America movement.

By 2009, the company had grown strong enough to meet the demand caused by the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. Hospitals promised to stick with him afterward, but they broke their promise. The allure of cheaper Chinese masks was too great for hospital purchasing groups to ignore...
...
The company nearly went bankrupt. In 2012 the company took out a million-dollar loan.

Mayor Trevino recalls escorting Bowen around the Texas Capitol in Austin as Bowen made his case with state lawmakers for more government support.

“He was begging them to understand that we shouldn’t have all our masks made in China. He wanted a federal government contract that would keep him in steady business,” the mayor said, adding that Bowen wanted to help build a future stockpile for a pandemic that Bowen predicted would happen.

Trevino recalls Bowen saying, “If y’all don’t care about me in good times when everybody’s OK, how am I going to be there when you need me?”


And further down he mentions having to lay off 150 workers after H1N1.

Can't say I can blame the guy one little bit. He simply doesn't need any fair weather friends because they don't pay and they're not around when you need them. This nation is getting just it exactly what it deserves. We need more patriots and real businessmen and fewer MBAs, middlemen and beancounters with their infamous 90 day forward vision that caters only to idiotic analysts on wall street who chase only nickles and dimes for a day or two's profit.

But will people be able to afford the steep jump in Made in America products? Who eventually pays for .08 cents more per mask in a hospital? WE do. That is a 400% increase. And it would account for a lot more than a .10 cent face mask. I would love to see manufacturing come back. But I'm not so sure we can afford it. And we'll be able to buy a lot less. That affects the manufacturers too. I'm not sure we CAN go back. Have we painted ourselves into a corner?

the estimate of masks needed during a pandemic is 1.2 BILLION a year, at each costing 8 cents more, is $960 MILLION more for masks, in a pandemic year.....

it can be dollar averaged though, with half the masks made overseas and half the masks bought here, where we could be safe with USA contractors able to make them quickly and Chinese contractors to make them on the cheap....

I'd like to think the mask buying isnt going to be a regular thing for the average American.
And with the Chinese selling substandard shit.......?

i'm with ya....on something like this, it's too important to have these things made 3000 gazillion miles away and sub standard!

but corporations and industry are in it, to make money, thus for them, pennies count....

one solution for hospital chains, is they could expand with a subdivision, and manufacture them for themselves in the USA, cutting out the middle men..... no reason to not do such, since the hospitals will ALWAYS need a supply of them....

As the article In the OP said,and I cant disagree.
They pay when they have to and dump you once the threat is over.
Surely there's a way to automate the production and get the price down so we're not supporting an unfriendly nation.
Although that sucks for the American worker it would safeguard us against chinese chicanery.
At the very least we need to bring home manufacturing that affects our national security.