In early April, the nonwovens manufacturer from Schwarzenbach/Saale had announced the investment in a new line to increase production of nonwoven filter media for face masks and thereby expand its contribution to the security of supply of these products. The new nonwovens line enables the production of filter media for about 600mn mouth-nose-protection masks a year and had started production on schedule in mid-August. Among many investment initiatives announced in response to the bottlenecks caused by the pandemic, this line is the first of its kind to come on stream to establish German supply chains for medical protective masks. With a small celebration under hygiene conditions, the production line was formally inaugurated.

•  Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, was personally on site together with other 50 guests from politics and business.

CEO Dr Christian Heinrich Sandler:

“The main reason for investing in a new production line was our goal to increase our production capacity for nonwovens for face masks as quickly as possible. On August 14th, as we promised our Federal Minister of Health Mr. Jens Spahn, we began putting the new line into operation. In September, we will commence 24/7 operation.”

 Dr Sandler again thanked the representatives of federal, state and regional politics for the excellent, unbureaucratic cooperation; the suppliers and partners for their commitment and partnership. He also thanked his Sandler team: “We have set up our own team for nonwovens for face masks in our company – for the assembly of the new production line, as well as for the development of new nonwovens for face masks, the cooperation with our partners and the sale of our products. Without these employees we would not have achieved our goal.”

In his celebratory speech, Hubert Aiwanger, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs of the State of Bavaria, highlighted the importance of the new investment:

“The supply shortages at the beginning of the corona crisis have shown how important the regional Bavarian production of protective equipment is. Sandler, being a domestic manufacturer of nonwovens for high-quality masks, is helping to combat the pandemic with innovative products. It is a stroke of luck for Bavaria that we have Sandler with us and I am delighted that the company continues to expand the site.”

• Jens Spahn, German Federal Minister of Health, had sent a video message, congratulating and thanking the company for its commitment.
• Dr Hans-Peter Friedrich, Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Dr Oliver Bär, Hof District Administrator, and Hans-Peter Baumann, Mayor of the town of Schwarzenbach/Saale, also took the opportunity to personally congratulate Sandler and to express their appreciation.

In May, Sandler AG, PIA Automation (automation specialist from Amberg), and Zettl Group (leading supplier of products for automotive interiors from Weng) had established the “Mask-Alliance-Bavaria”. Together, they set up an entire value chain for the manufacture of face masks in Bavaria. Management representatives of both partner companies were also guests at the inauguration of the new production line in Schwarzenbach.