COVER STORY
New Jersey Manufacturers Retool
After COVID-19
Some 242 New Jersey manufacturers retooled their plants to help make
masks, gowns and other personal protection equipment for healthcare workers.
By Diane C. Walsh
Executive VP, CIANJ
U
nlike many retail outlets and other hard-
hit industries, most New Jersey man-
ufacturers kept their doors open and
plants adapted to the new normal caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Pro-
gram (NJMEP), a private, not-for-profit that helps
manufacturers stay competitive, estimated 93 per-
cent of the state’s 11,000 manufacturers were up
and working during the ongoing crisis. Some 242
companies pitched in by concentrating their efforts
or retooling their plants to help make the desper-
ately needed masks, gowns and other personal pro-
tection equipment needed by healthcare workers.
CIANJ spoke with several of our member man-
ufacturers to discuss how they were affected.
Madeleine Robinson, the CEO of LPS In-
dustries, said it’s business as usual for the most
part at her packaging plant in Moonachie. The
61-year-old company founded by Robinson’s
late father, John P. Robinson, is considered an
“essential” business as a supplier to the food
and medical industry,
Their products include the specially sealed
packaging used to hold virus test kits and the
stand-up pouches for select food items com-
monly found on grocers’ shelves. There’s great
demand for some of LPS’s
products due to the dire
situation afflicting
the nation.
22 COMMERCE www. commercemagnj.com
While orders have increased, Robinson said
her workers are keeping pace. “People are ner-
vous, but we’re fine,” she said. On the LPS web-
site it’s a COVID-19 update stating: “We’re Open
and Ready to Help.” It also explains the workers
are complying with the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention standards for hygiene.
Robinson is also trying to do her part for
businesses straining to stay open. Twice a week,
she is buying lunch for her 200 employees from
a local pizzeria or restaurant. “They’re thrilled
to get the business.”
Salvatore Freda Jr., the president of Brewster
Washers in Fairfield, said he was lucky to have
found an old case of N95 masks in the back of
his shop. His nine employees are all wearing
the masks and gloves and abiding by the
six-foot social distancing guidelines.
Brewster has been making round
washers, shims, discs and spacers for
100 years. Honeywell recently put in
a rush order for four times the size
of its usual order. Freda believes the
parts will be used in ventilators to
fight the pandemic. “It’s a rush and
we’re pushing forward with it,” said
Freda, who expects to deliver the parts
in three weeks.
Triangle Manufacturing, a medical
device manufacturer in Upper Saddle River
that employs 215 workers, is also looking for
opportunities to support the cause, said Dax
Strohmeyer, the president. He responded to a
call from Metronics, a ventilator manufactur-
er, but was unable to fill the order because Tri-
angle does not use the specified machinery.
Meanwhile, Strohmeyer said procedures
throughout his four buildings have changed,
ranging from small adjustments, like stagger-
ing lunch times so the fewer workers in the caf-
eteria can practice social distancing, to hiring
a daily cleaning service. He has also been very
flexible with PTO for associates uncomfortable
with coming to work and others who do not
have childcare. Once some normalcy returns,
Strohmeyer said he will sort through the PTO
reports. But he is bracing for a “complete mess.”
Strohmeyer tries to keep abreast of the latest
news and information from all sources. He is
in regular contact with colleagues in manufac-
turing and other industries. “I try to extend my
network as best as possible.”