3M and GE Step Into Gap to Help Stretched-Thin Medical Industry

The global calamity that is the COVID-19 pandemic has ground some businesses and industries to a halt. However, there are some brands that are in a key position to step in and act heroically to help in this time of crisis. If they take the opportunity, and they manage the messaging correctly, this could be a major positive PR move in a sea of bad news.

Early on in the news reports about the spread of the novel coronavirus, one specific piece of medical equipment became a kind of shorthand for the resources available to fight the pandemic: the N95 respirator. Headline after headline urged consumers not to purchase the masks, to save them for medical professionals, even as others lamented the lack of supply, especially in harder hit areas.

Eventually, all eyes turned toward the brands that manufacture and distribute the masks or similar versions, including US industrial giant 3M Co. Questions began to fly in: “when will you have more?” and “will there ever be enough?” among others.

After doing the internal research and looking at supply chains and manufacturing capabilities, 3M released a statement with an answer: the company would begin to “double production” of the N95 respirators in an effort to keep up with demand. In addition, 3M promised to “expand global capacity” a significant amount over the next year in order to continue to meet demand as the virus continues to spread.

The announcement corresponds with news from the US Department of Health and Human Services, which revealed plans to buy “more than 500 million masks” to supplement the Strategic National Stockpile of pharmaceutical and medical supplies. President Trump offered a hand as well, saying he would take steps to help speed up production of ventilators and masks.

Another big US-based brand, General Electric (GE) said it would begin to increase its staff in an effort to manufacture more ventilators to help people hospitalized with COVID-19. This announcement comes alongside headlines that say US hospitals are doing what they can to prepare for an unprecedented surge in patients as the disease continues to spread.

The idea that the national medical infrastructure may soon be overwhelmed is a stressful and frightening potential for many. When a company steps up and promises to invest as they can to help where they can, it’s an opportunity to offer comfort and to come through by keeping their promise. Once through this, 3M and GE may stand as two of many American companies that stepped into the gap and helped where they were needed, much like Ford and General Motors during the run-up to US entry into World War II.