The Zlín-based company SPUR a.s. has in recent days recorded increased interest in its SPURTEX® nanorespirators. It now supplies them to customers within the Czech and Slovak Republics, as well as to Germany and the United Kingdom. Its stock currently stands at around 1 million FFP2-class respirators. At the beginning of January the company launched its seventh production line for personal protective equipment made of nanomaterial.

„Although a further increase in interest from both the public and institutions can now be expected in view of the planned government measure on the obligation to wear respirators and medical masks in shops and on public transport, there is no need for people to worry and buy protective equipment in bulk,“ reassured Tomáš Dudák, CEO of SPUR a.s. Even though the Zlín-based company has now increased its production capacity again, it admits that the situation today could have been different.

„At the end of the year we installed another new respirator line; however, it was delivered two months later than we had originally expected. The reason was a delay on the supplier’s side, which affected our production plan,“ said Tomáš Dudák, adding that in December they also increased the production capacity of the nanofibre material. „Production of the SPURTEX® nanomaterial is now running on two new lines of our own design. We are thus currently one of two Czech companies that handles the entire production process of protective equipment completely under one roof,“ he added.

SPUR’s production capacity today reaches 4 million FFP2-class nanorespirators per month, yet it could be even higher. The company is grappling with a current shortage of human resources, which it had to release because of anticipated orders that did not materialise. SPUR began producing nanomasks back in March 2020 in response to the crisis that arose in securing protective personal equipment, in an effort to help the Czech Republic achieve self-sufficiency in this area. „That is also why we invested in increasing production capacity, adapted our production programme and recruited workers. Even so, at the end of the year we found ourselves in a situation where we had to start seeking sales on foreign markets,“ explained Tomáš Dudák, adding the reason why: „Although our respirators meet the highest requirements for quality and certification and, thanks to the nanofibre, are also able to capture viruses unlike other respirators, unfortunately they cannot compete on price with cheap products from Asian markets. The rules and evaluation criteria for public contracts are still set up in such a way that they favour price at the expense of quality.“

SPUR’s total investment in technologies for the production of its nanofibre range has already exceeded 70 million crowns. „Already during the course of last year we decided to make use of the Technologie COVID-19 subsidy programme, which we consider well prepared and effective. At this moment we are waiting to see whether the subsidy of 10 million CZK will be paid out,“ said Tomáš Dudák.

At the end of the year SPUR also added to its range nanomasks with colour print for adults under NANOS®, for children under the NANOSÍK® brand, and the special disinfectant SPURTEX® Unisanol, which extends a respirator’s lifespan up to fivefold. Another planned novelty ‑ a top-class FFP3 nanorespirator, due to be launched in the course of February 2021 ‑ is now also in the certification process.

ABOUT SPUR

Since its founding in 1992, the company has been engaged in the manufacture of plastic products. Its production draws on its own research and development activities, which reflect customer requirements and demand for new properties of plastics. It employs 245 people. In 2019 it achieved a turnover of over 1 billion CZK. It exports more than 70% of its production abroad. The company operates in accordance with the ISO 9001 and ISO 28000 standards. 

SPUR a.s. began research and development of nanomaterials back in 2006. It has been engaged in the production of nanofibres on equipment of its own design since 2012. Since 2018 it has continued its research within the Polymer Systems Centre of Tomáš Baťa University, while at its headquarters it continues to carry out development and its own production of nanofibres. Series production of the material began at the start of March 2020. At the end of June the first automatic line for producing FFP2 respirators was launched. The company currently operates six automatic lines for producing nanorespirators and one for producing nanomasks.

Media contact:

• Kateřina Martykánová
• PR Manager
• Tel.: 602 576 870
• Email: katerina.martykanova@spur.cz