US Glove Supply seeks fit with customers (2024)

Inside a former fiberboard factory in Lackawanna, US Glove Supply is ready to prove itself to customers.

The company has ambitious plans to produce nitrile gloves, the kind commonly worn by health care workers, police officers and airport security officials.

US Glove Supply has been waiting for an order from a customer in order to crank up production. Now, that moment has arrived.

The company has installed a manufacturing line measuring an impressive 520 feet long, 43 feet high and 18 feet wide along one side of the vast plant floor. US Glove Supply has made sample batches for customers, while becoming more familiar with the production line's technology.

The company explored setting up manufacturing in a number of states but had difficulty finding a building that would accommodate its operations' huge dimensions. The property at 300 Commerce Drive, once home to Great Lakes MDF, suited its needs.

US Glove Supply has pitched its capabilities to government agencies and hospital systems like the Veterans Administration, hoping to secure significant orders that would allow the plant to maximize its production capacity. The line already installed could make as many as 1 million gloves per day, by operating around the clock.

The company has received a small order from a government agency for 22,000 gloves, "to show we can produce it," said Ray Krause, the plant manager.

More significantly, US Glove Supply has a tentative order to produce 2.3 million gloves for a different government agency, Krause said. That deal is still being finalized.

Krause declined to identify the two agencies, but said the plant and its workforce are ready to get to work.

The vast majority of these types of gloves are presently made overseas, in countries like Malaysia. That became a pressing issue during the pandemic, when hospitals and other users were clamoring for more personal protection equipment as Covid spread. A factory like US Glove Supply's would present an alternative source for customers in the United States.

"American-made is huge right now," Krause said. "There won't ever be a supply chain issue, which obviously everybody worries about."

For customers, there is also the superior feel of a glove that hasn't spent months packed inside a shipping container from overseas, he said.

At the Lackawanna plant, it takes about 45 minutes for a glove to complete all the steps of the plant's production process, moving from raw material to a finished product. Along the way, the gloves are dipped in the color of the customer's choice – they don't have to be that familiar shade of blue – and "cooked" in ovens.

Gloves made on the line are subjected to regular testing, something government agencies would require if those orders come through. Samples are tested in a laboratory above the production floor. The gloves are evaluated for weight, thickness and strength.

Debbie South, the lead chemist, heads down to the production floor to grab batches for testing. "I don't let them know exactly when I'm doing it, because I want to make sure it's random testing. I put them to the test, to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do."

US Glove Supply has room to install up to 12 production lines inside the sprawling plant. The first line's installation was delayed by supply chain issues and the US Glove Supply team getting up to speed on using the technology.

"This line took us a little longer to build simply because it was all having to figure out every little thing by ourselves," Krause said. Future lines could be installed as quickly as every six months, he said.

The plant currently has 10 employees, but the workforce would also scale up with more machines.

US Glove Supply is preparing to fulfill the orders on its plate. And Krause said he is "confident" the plant will come through.

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Polymer Medical gets to work

Two veterans of the plastics industry have launched a new business, Polymer Medical, in Orchard Park.

Benjamin Harp and Tom Rybicki, the owners of PM Plastics, started the new company, which is geared toward the health care industry.

Polymer Medical will focus on making drug-delivery systems, medical disposables like syringes, medical devices for home health care to orthopedics, specialty packaging and pharmaceutical disposables, among other services. The new company is located on Thorn Avenue.

“There’s a rising demand for medical devices partly because of changes in demographics and approaches to home health care," said Harp, the president. "The time is right for a new entrant like Polymer Medical."

Harp and Rybicki both formerly worked at Polymer Conversions, which was acquired in 2020 by MedBio.

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The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the region’s economic revitalization. Email tips tobuffalonext@buffnews.comor reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.