Manufacturers boost hand sanitiser supply chain

Manufacturers have stepped up production of one of the key products needed to stem the spread of the coronavirus – hand sanitiser.

Actually a very simple product, sanitiser such as Ego Pharmaceuticals Aquium nonetheless has a long supply chain that begins with a basic raw material, ethanol.

Manildra Group is Australia’s leading producer of ethanol and its Managing Director John Honan said the company was rising to the challenge.

Honan said: “As a family-owned Australian business we continue to locally produce ethanol, and we’re committed to operating our manufacturing facilities around the clock to meet demand.”

Ego Pharmaceuticals has boosted the amount of Aquium they are producing at their factory in Melbourne, according to Managing Director Alan Oppenheim.

Oppenheim said: “In February we made five times what we forecast and our factory is now running 24 hours a day, five days a week.

“We are currently hiring to increase that to six days a week and we have stopped our little bit of exporting to prioritise Australian needs.”

Industry minister Karen Andrews, who only last week issued a ‘request for information’ from manufacturers for the first time in the coronavirus crisis, will host a roundtable via teleconference this week to identify opportunities to increase supply of hand sanitiser.

Picture: Ego Pharmaceuticals

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