COVID-19 has dealt massive blows to businesses on a global scale, but even amidst the chaos of a worldwide pandemic, some have managed to weather, and thrive in, the storm. RB Medical is one of those companies. During the earliest days of COVID-19, we were able to leverage our expertise in strategic supply chain sourcing to secure and distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to the hospitals and healthcare facilities that needed it most, transforming as a medical supply company to provide even more support to Ohio businesses across various industries. Read our story to learn more.
RB Medical Before COVID-19
Prior to COVID-19, RB Medical was not a manufacturer of medical supplies — we were (and still are) a service provider focused on Lean Basics, Belts and Six Sigma methodologies, project management, IAFTA, ISO and more to help organizations maximize ROI and prepare secondary education students for the working world. For the past four years, we were also involved in strategic supply chain sourcing and had strong connections overseas. When our local healthcare facilities were in desperate need of PPE at the beginning of COVID-19, it wasn't hard for us to find and import it from China.
Expansion and Hiring During COVID-19
We soon found that importing PPE as a medical supplier wasn't going to cut it. Over the course of 90 days, CEO Justin Bloyd invested over $1 million into machines to make our own N95 respirators and masks for coronavirus. With the means of production now in-house, RB Medical shipped out over 10 million pieces of PPE to frontline workers, hospital staff, senior care facilities, state governments, consumers and other industries across the board. To better support our efforts, we've also invested in a second, 20,000-square-foot warehouse facility.
During this time, the RB Medical Supply company filled in other gaps in PPE supply by working almost exclusively with Ohio manufacturers to provide facilities with PPE on a daily basis. Protective gowns, latex-free nitrile and vinyl surgical gloves and many other forms of PPE are all manufactured and supplied by Ohio businesses, while FDA-approved sanitizer products are sourced from Utah and California.
We also opened our retail storefront in Mentor, Ohio, with a pandemic-friendly layout. All customers are strongly encouraged to enter wearing gloves and a mask, and they never have to touch any products. Instead, they tell a store employee which items they would like and the employee packages and hands them everything they need from a safe distance. Larger orders can be picked up behind our warehouse, or delivered for free within a 60-mile radius. We're one of the safest medical supply stores in Cleveland.
But RB Medical needed more than just new machines and a storefront to accommodate this massive change. Since the end of February, we've taken on 36 new employees as part of a three-phase hiring process. We started by transitioning some of our current team members into new roles in order to handle the most pressing matters. Next, we brought on other talented individuals from different industries who we had known and worked with in the past. Finally, we hired from the pool of people who had reached out to us. Through it all, we've stuck to this hiring philosophy: It's during difficult times that the best people will find you. So far, so good!
Looking to the Future
The growth and success of RB Medical during COVID-19 has been massive — but how do we maintain that growth as the virus begins to ebb? Growing into a medical supplier and manufacturer by investing in PPE machines has allowed us to take the reins in the realm of product development. While prices on PPE are currently higher than usual, RB Medical will be competitive with leading brands like 3M and Honeywell as the environment returns to normal. We're also beginning transitions while we're ahead, expanding our capabilities to produce level 1-4 isolation gowns and ensuring that our structure is vertically integrated to ensure that our costs stay down.
In addition to internal planning, we have also created supply chain agreements with prisons, local hospitals and schools to help with volume and demand post-COVID. While fulfilling sporadic orders of small and large quantities will be well within our capabilities, having long-term agreements locked down will ensure equally long-term security for our medical supply company.
Choose RB Medical as Your COVID-19 Medical Supplier
If you're searching for a medical supply company near you, look no further than RB Medical. Our domestically made surgical masks, N95 respirators, gowns, gloves and more will be available in July, so pre-order them now to secure units for your facility. We look forward to continuing to serve Ohio and the nation as a growing medical supply company.
