GHENT, Ky. (BUSINESS WIRE) — North American Stainless (NAS) and its 1,500 workers in Carroll County are producing thousands of tons of high-quality stainless steel used on the front lines of the U.S. healthcare system as it battles COVID-19.
As shortages plague the industry, the Kentucky-based facility is responding to the immediate increase in demand for high-quality stainless steel used in products such as ventilators, oxygen tanks, hospital beds and more.
“We are proud to play an important role in America’s fight against the novel coronavirus,” said NAS CEO Cris Fuentes. “We have implemented new procedures to keep our workforce safe, and they show up each day to turn out high quality stainless that winds up in critical healthcare devices. We are a vital part of the American supply chain and take pride that it is American workers making the steel.”
NAS in Ghent, Ky., is the largest, fully integrated stainless steel producer in the United States. As a result of their streamlined operation, NAS can quickly shift production, capitalizing on its flexibility to accommodate emergency orders. Across the country, NAS product is meeting the stainless needs of manufacturers and producers of critical medical infrastructure, including:
- Mask Decontamination Units – kits that enable healthcare providers to fully sterilize and reuse N95 masks that are in short supply.
- Ventilators – three separate grades of NAS-produced stainless steel for various parts.
- Medical Tanks – designed to hold oxygen and other critical medical resources, some of which are being sent to field hospitals in New York City.
- Hospital Beds/Tables – NAS ramped up production to ensure a business putting out 500 units a day has the materials they need.
- Lab Equipment/Medical Incubators – NAS is supplying the stainless necessary to produce key lab and hospital equipment.
- Cashier Shields – NAS stainless is being used to protect front line workers at grocery/pharmacy retail establishments.
“We are grateful that the Trump administration designated stainless steel as essential, ensuring we can continue to supply critical resources manufacturers need in the COVID-19 fight,” Fuentes said. “It is critical that American companies fill healthcare manufacturing needs.”
NAS is continuously making major investments in the Ghent, Ky. facility that enable it to quickly shift and increase production to meet critical customer orders. Most recently, NAS invested $30 million to upgrade and modernize one of its cold rolling mills and annealing and pickling lines.
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