Local Business Shifts Manufacturing To Produce Face Shields To Support Unsung Heroes Of COVID-19 Pandemic

BUTLER, Pa., April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IDL, an experiential marketing and retail design agency in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a part of Pittsburgh's Matthews International Corporation, has temporarily shifted its manufacturing of retail displays to produce a unique two-piece face shield designed to assist the unsung heroes of COVID-19—retail-industry service workers at the front lines of essential businesses such as grocery, pharmacy and convenience stores, quick serve restaurants and delivery services.

"We are immensely grateful for all the heroes in our healthcare community. Their herculean efforts to save lives amid the risk to their own well-being is incredibly inspiring," said Kevin Peters, head of IDL's print business. "As a leader for decades within the retail merchandising sector, we immediately saw the need for personal barrier shields to assist retail service workers who are also putting their well-being at risk to keep stores open so that food and medicine remain accessible to the public. They are our friends, our family members and our clients. They are also heroes."

The unique two-piece face shield consists of two components: a shield made of high-impact-grade material with a foam forehead rest and an adjustable head strap. The shield offers outstanding transparency and UV resistance and is able to accommodate eyeglasses and masks worn underneath it.

According to Bryan Boul, vice president, executive creative director at IDL, "Our designers and engineers wanted to design a face shield that was also easy to assemble quickly in the field and to give businesses the option of re-using the head strap and switching out face shields to reduce cost. We're proud that these are made in America using American materials and American ingenuity."

IDL has completed production on more than 100,000 face shields and expects to have the capacity to manufacture 500,000 per week starting this week to meet the growing demand and to slow the spread of COVID-19. The face shields are available to retail and medical businesses locally and nationally.

"We are incredibly proud of the efforts our employees in Butler to quickly realign our capabilities in a way that benefits our communities in the Greater Pittsburgh region and beyond with a product that is so desperately needed," said Peter Beck, head of IDL. "When IDL first opened its doors as a small printer in 1943, we assisted the U.S. Military during WWII by applying our production expertise to label first aid kits and other military supplies. We're honored to continue the tradition of assisting in times of need by finding new and useful ways to create meaningful experiences that affect the ways human beings engage in retail environments."  

Added Beck, "As a part of Matthews International, we have taken many steps to protect the well-being of our own employees and are following all recommendations made by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and government agencies around the world. We are making these new face shields available to essential retail businesses and the healthcare industry at an advantaged cost as a means of being a good corporate citizen while keeping our staff in Pittsburgh employed."

A 3D animation and photographs of the IDL-designed face shield are available upon request.

IDL is an experiential marketing and retail design agency and production house that creates consumer experiences for global brands. IDL has offices in Butler, PA, Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD. IDL is part of SGK, a Matthews International company.

About Matthews International Corporation
Matthews International Corporation is a global provider of brand solutions, memorialization products and industrial technologies. The SGK Brand Solutions segment is a leader in providing brand development, deployment and delivery services that help build our clients' brands and consumers' desire for them. The Memorialization segment is a leading provider of memorialization products, including memorials, caskets and cremation and incineration equipment, primarily to cemetery and funeral home customers that help families move from grief to remembrance. The Industrial Technologies segment designs, manufactures and distributes marking, coding and industrial automation technologies and solutions. The Company has approximately 11,000 employees in more than 25 countries on six continents that are committed to delivering the highest quality products and services. 

SOURCE Matthews International Corporation