SCT will also donate face shields to the Mansfield, Texas community in support of their service for SCT's manufacturing plant
The Southern Champion Tray’s new face shields. (Credit: Southern Champion Tray LP)
In response to community need, Southern Champion Tray (SCT) has developed a disposable face shield and is donating them to healthcare providers and first responders. A prototype was recently reviewed by leading Chattanooga physicians and now a larger quantity of face shields is being produced to donate to medical providers and first responders for further testing. To keep pace with the urgent need for face shields, SCT will continue to manufacture this design and is prepared to make suggested improvements from medical personnel for future production runs. SCT will also donate face shields to the Mansfield, Texas community in support of their service for SCT’s manufacturing plant there and to Chattanooga food service providers and other businesses continuing to serve the public.
“Supporting our local communities has been a pillar of SCT’s mission, vision and values for decades, which is why this initiative has been so rewarding. The SCT Team saw it as an opportunity to give back to those serving on the front lines of this crisis. It also allows SCT to continue to take care of customers while providing ongoing work for our team during this season of uncertainty,” states Brian Hunt, Southern Champion Tray’s Chief Operating Officer.
SCT Structural Designer, David Chapman, worked on several original designs and others inspired by ones being produced in the packaging industry today. However, using research from the CDC’s guidelines for face shields in the US National Library of Medicine and working with local MDs and RNs, Chapman developed a new design that members of the medical community say they would feel comfortable wearing.
A key feature of this design is the large panoramic window of the face shield. “One thing the medical community kept telling me was that they needed a wide field of vision. When they are gathering around a patient trying to help them, they need to be able to see who is standing next to them,” says Chapman. The design also fits SCT’s unique manufacturing processes and utilizes materials that SCT has in supply and are quickly obtainable through supplier networks.
SCT is proud to be a member of Fiber Shield – an international coalition of paperboard packaging companies and supply-chain partners formed at the onset of the COVID-19 virus pandemic to supply single-use face shields to medical professionals and first responders. Each member of the group has committed to donating at least 100,000 face shields to either medical providers or first responders. To date, 750,000 face shields have been donated by coalition members.
In addition to donating face shields to the medical community, SCT will soon be selling the face shields through its packaging distributor network, on Amazon and through other online retailers for other businesses in need of personal protection equipment.
Since 1927, Southern Champion Tray has been manufacturing and distributing quality, sustainable bakery, food service and catering paperboard and corrugated packaging, food and drink carriers and molded fiber tableware. Markets served include bakery, foodservice, frozen foods, supermarket, institutional, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, cosmetic, retail, electronics, and more. Southern Champion Tray has offices, manufacturing and distribution facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Mansfield, Texas.
Source: Company Press Release