Central SOEs' First Medical Protective Clothing Plodder Born

Designed and manufactured by Hi-tech Heavy Industry Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Machinery Corporation Ltd (Sinomach), the first medical protective clothing plodder passed appraisal and inspection on Feb 19. It marks the birth of the first of its kind manufactured by a central state-owned enterprise accepted for mass production

Hi-tech Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. holds an inspection meeting on its products. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

A plodder is used to seal the interfaces and seams of the protective clothing materials to ensure the protective clothing can remain impervious and waterproof. That ensurance is the bottleneck which restrains the production of medical protective clothing. 

A plodder of Hi-tech Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, the needs of protective clothing and masks have surged, as has demand for such materials' production equipment.

In order to increase production and output, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) has urgently organized some central SOEs to tackle the problems of the medical mask machines and medical protective clothing plodders. 

As one of the five central SOEs undertaking the task of increasing production and efficiency of the plodders for epidemic prevention and control medical supplies, Sinomach started the research and development on an emergency basis on Feb 10. 

The Hi-tech equipment is the first to have gained recognition.  

On Feb 18, the plodder was developed successfully and the first batch of 10 prototypes was produced that same day. 

The next day, experts from Henan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Henan Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association, and enterprise users agreed that the plodder is qualified for mass production. The first group of 10 prototypes was immediately sent to five enterprises designated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Hi-tech Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. is expected to manufacture 270 plodders by the end of February. Each plodder can produce 100 to 150 pieces of medical protective clothing, which will effectively alleviate shortages in that area.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)