Leaning in To Stop the Spread

For 65 years, McLoone has manufactured durable graphics for consumer and industrial products with innovation and flexibility. Last week, we began putting our experience and commitment to work helping health care systems defend against the coronavirus pandemic.

To support major ventilator manufacturers, McLoone is manufacturing and currently shipping thousands of labels and overlays for critically needed ventilators. The production team is continuing to prioritize and produce these labels. The team also designed and is manufacturing protective face shields to be donated to local health care organizations and that will be made available for sale. Additionally, McLoone is currently producing social distancing graphics to be donated to local businesses to support their efforts to keep the community safe.

“When the call came in from customers for ventilator labels and protective shields, we went straight to work,” said Deidre Kruser, President of McLoone. “More than 50 McLoone team members from production to process engineering came together in search of solutions and to meet the demand to produce product.”

The team focused on designing a protective face shield that could be produced very quickly, in high numbers, with materials readily available, and that could provide an additional barrier against the virus to shield health care workers.

The team settled on a simple face shield design that does not require multiple materials. It’s interlocking-style of strap design creates the fully adjustable shield with the desired spacer to keep the shield off the face.

“Making an impact – this is our purpose as a company,” Kruser said of the design process. “This was a high-pressure situation in which the team debated the best solution, creating multiple prototypes in a very dynamic environment. There were numerous iterations over a couple of days until we finally got to where we are today.”

Label and overlay production for ventilators continues to take place at Mcloone’s facility in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kruser and her team are utilizing McLoone’s capabilities to manufacture thousands of protective face shields in the upcoming weeks.

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“At McLoone, we know the value of working together. This core value is important now more than ever as we come together to combat COVID-19. I’m incredibly proud of the hard work and flexibility of our McLoone team as we work with customers and health care providers – working together is key.”

-Deidre Kruser, President of McLoone
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