Face masks with a message – the Nepata Group defies the coronavirus crisis with new products

The Nepata Group, based in Wolnzach in the district of Pfaffenhofen am Ilm, manufactures equipment for the advertising industry. As sales of this equipment have virtually ground to a halt since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, the company is now using it itself: on behalf of businesses and local authorities, staff are applying logos or messages to face masks. This is intended to encourage people to wear masks – and to safeguard employment at the engineering firm. Face visors are also being produced in Wolnzach.

Nepata maintains close business ties with China. That is also where the face masks, made from boil-proof non-woven or cotton fabrics, come from. “Our Chinese business partners sent me a pack of masks weeks ago,” reports Managing Director Bernhard Schmidt. “They simply cannot understand that it has not previously been customary here to wear masks to protect others during the cold and flu season or during epidemics such as the one we are currently experiencing.”

Without further ado, Schmidt and his team decided to start offering everyday face masks themselves. Specifically, masks with a message. Nepata custom-prints the masks for companies and organisations with slogans, emblems or logos. The aim is to encourage staff and customers to wear the masks willingly and thus help protect those around them – whether at work, whilst shopping or on public transport.

“True heroes wear masks”

“True heroes wear masks” – under this motto, Nepata sells face masks in its own online shop. “We don’t want to be the next company to make a quick profit from the mask mandate,” says Schmidt, explaining his company’s ethical stance. That is why, for every order of over 500 masks, Nepata donates ten per cent of the order quantity to a charitable or medical organisation. “It is important to us to promote the solidarity expressed through wearing a community mask. But of course, it’s also about safeguarding the jobs of the 35 employees in the Nepata Group,” says Schmidt. Just recently, the engineering firm brought part of its production back from the Far East to Wolnzach in the Hallertau region.

Face shields “made in Wolnzach”

Another product that is also “made in Wolnzach” is one that Nepata has recently started manufacturing in response to the coronavirus situation: face visors that can be attached to a baseball cap using press studs or magnets. The visors are made from a sturdy, transparent plastic film and are worn, for example, at work in addition to face masks. They provide extra protection against droplets when speaking or coughing. The visor also prevents people from touching their faces.

Using machines rather than letting them gather dust

The equipment that the company normally manufactures is currently gathering dust in the warehouse. Customers all over the world use the machines for film processing, cutting plotters or transfer presses to apply lettering or designs to textiles: kits for sports teams, workwear for the hospitality industry, T-shirts for festivals. Nobody needs any of that at the moment – and so neither do Nepata’s products or those of its Secabo brand. So the company is now using the machines and its expertise in textile finishing to print masks and caps and manufacture plastic visors with its own staff.

Making face masks available

To date, more than 100,000 masks have already been delivered – both printed and unprinted. One of the customers is the community energy co-operative in the Pfaffenhofen district. It has used the surplus revenue from its Lustholz community wind turbine to order 2,000 printed masks for its members and the Pfaffenhofen Corona Community Aid scheme. A total of 27,000 unprinted masks were delivered to the town of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm for its residents.

Replenishments are being organised on an ongoing basis. A further 300,000 masks are due to arrive from China by mid-May. Nepata’s good relations with Chinese suppliers can thus help to ensure that sufficient masks are available. Schmidt commented: “It won’t work with homemade masks alone if we’re all going to be wearing masks for months on end.” And so we will all become true heroes.