How Manufacturers Can Work with the Government to Provide PPE
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Sign up hereHospitals, businesses, schools and individuals will continue to need protective gear—but how much and for how long? The NAM has been working with the federal government to help manufacturers meet this urgent need, acting as a go-between to get millions of masks, gloves and more where they have to go. The NAM and The Manufacturing Institute’s Center for Manufacturing Research have an estimate of how many disposable face coverings America’s workforce needs every month.
As part of a recent Department of Defense seminar, Herb Grant, the director of the NAM’s Creators Respond effort, outlined how manufacturers can get involved. Here is a brief recap of the event.
How much? Here’s what we know:
- As of July 9, the DoD had already procured nearly 3 million gowns, nearly 140 million medical gloves, nearly 18 million surgical masks and more than 5 million N95 respirators (according to the DoD’s Joint Acquisition Task Force).
- The NAM has estimated the demand for facial coverings approaches 1.7 billion pieces per month—and that’s just for industries that don’t typically use PPE. Meeting that demand will require manufacturers to add capacity by investing in new or retooling existing production lines.
The DoD says that information helped clarify that the total demand is not fully understood, but it is far greater than previously thought.
How long? According to Grant, the deputy director of the White House Supply Chain Task Force expects the demand for PPE to continue beyond next year, and perhaps even through 2023.
How can manufacturers get involved? There are three major ways in which manufacturers can help, said Grant.
- Increase your capacity to produce PPE: Manufacturers should evaluate whether they can shift capacity or invest in new capacity—which may involve talking to Creators Respond about how the government can support those investments.
- Sell PPE to the government: Manufacturers can find out how their production lines up with the government’s needs and consider participating in various federal programs.
- Sell PPE to the industry: As the 1.7 billion per month demand estimate shows, industries across the country need the PPE that manufacturers are producing—and will keep needing more.
How to sell to the government: There are three things manufacturers need to do before selling products to the government, Grant advises.
- Get a DUNS number: A Data Universal Numbering System number is a unique ID that is required to register with the federal government for contracts or grants (you can obtain one here).
- Register with SAM: The System for Award Management consolidates the capabilities of existing federal procurement systems—and you can register at www.sam.gov.
- Check for contracting opportunities: The webinar covered a range of sites that offer contracting opportunities, including:
The last word: “The bottom line is the manufacturing industry, which has been on the front lines, will continue to lead our country through recovery and renewal,” said Grant.
Check out a full recording of the event here.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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