Status Report: Camo Face Masks
Latest Update:
April 21, 2020 3pm EST
USPS Orders: By now our first batch of orders should have received USPS tracking information for your Original Camo face mask(s). In an effort to speed up the fulfillment timeline we went ahead and created each mailer and pre-posted them with your shipping information. This way the moment the masks are ready they will be out the door and on the way to you!
That said, if you received tracking but don't see any movement on the tracking report, this is normal. We are on track to have your order shipped by 9pm this Friday.
April 15, 2020 1pm EST
Mark is headed to LA to oversee the production and fufillment of the masks today. He will be there pushing things along this week!
We realized some of you may be wondering just why these masks are taking a bit longer to ship than most normal products so we wanted to share the challenges we are working through.
#1 Production Capacity - With the stay at home order, and non essential businesses having to close their doors, the large majority of USA garment manufacturers closed their doors. It was only manufacturers who were already making face masks that could stay open. The workers were sent home and were out of work. At the same time schools were closed so those same workers needed to home school and care for their kids. It wasn't until the research on cotton face masks became available that these garment factories could apply to re-open thier doors. As you can imagine hundreds of factories wanted to open to produce masks, so the demand, combined with the government's slower processing speed meant it took weeks to get approvals to re-open. All of this, combined with the much higher demand for these masks meant that producing thousands of masks quickly, was very challenging.
#2 Material Shortage - When the news broke about the benefits of the cotton masks, overnight the entire supply chain for mask production became essentially sold out. Cotton cloth was near impossible to purchase, but it was the elastic that was really the most difficult to find. Many companies had existing cotton fabric on hand, like we did with the Original Camo, but nobody had the elastic cordage for securing the mask to your face.
#3 Shipping - As you've probably experienced with shipping of all goods, shipping times are way slower than normal. Our supply chain for these masks is no exemption. The materials, tags, labels, and care cards all had extended shipping timelines since nearly all shopping has moved online greatly overwhelming the capacities of the biggest companies and shippers like Amazon. We're beginning to forget that we could once expect all Amazon Prime orders in 2 days. That seems like a distant past life.
#4 Fulfillment - In order to prevent the spread, our shipping partners have to reduce their staffing, and spread the workers further apart physically. That combined with extra cleaning precautions and safeguards and the speed at which packages can go out per day goes from the tens of thousands, down to the single digit thousands. 1/10 of the normal speed.
April 14, 2020 3pm EST
We realized some of you may be wondering just why these masks are taking a bit longer to ship than most normal products so we wanted to share the challenges we are working through.
#1 Production Capacity - With the stay at home order, and non essential businesses having to close their doors, the large majority of USA garment manufacturers closed their doors. It was only manufacturers who were already making face masks that could stay open. The workers were sent home and were out of work. At the same time schools were closed so those same workers needed to home school and care for their kids. It wasn't until the research on cotton face masks became available that these garment factories could apply to re-open thier doors. As you can imagine hundreds of factories wanted to open to produce masks, so the demand, combined with the government's slower processing speed meant it took weeks to get approvals to re-open. All of this, combined with the much higher demand for these masks meant that producing thousands of masks quickly, was very challenging.
#2 Material Shortage - When the news broke about the benefits of the cotton masks, overnight the entire supply chain for mask production became essentially sold out. Cotton cloth was near impossible to purchase, but it was the elastic that was really the most difficult to find. Many companies had existing cotton fabric on hand, like we did with the Original Camo, but nobody had the elastic cordage for securing the mask to your face.
#3 Shipping - As you've probably experienced with shipping of all goods, shipping times are way slower than normal. Our supply chain for these masks is no exemption. The materials, tags, labels, and care cards all had extended shipping timelines since nearly all shopping has moved online greatly overwhelming the capacities of the biggest companies and shippers like Amazon. We're beginning to forget that we could once expect all Amazon Prime orders in 2 days. That seems like a distant past life.
#4 Fulfillment - In order to prevent the spread, our shipping partners have to reduce their staffing, and spread the workers further apart physically. That combined with extra cleaning precautions and safeguards and the speed at which packages can go out per day goes from the tens of thousands, down to the single digit thousands. 1/10 of the normal speed.
April 14, 2020 3pm EST
Say hello to organic cotton! We are excited to share that we have upgraded the inner cotton layer to an amazing organic cotton fabric. This will be soft and comfortable on your face. Aside from that organic cotton, 100% of all the other necessary materials have arrived to manufacturing partners. We are currently actively with our shipping center to create the most efficient streamlined process so these will be shipped out to you as soon as possible. Current timeline shows that we will begin shipping this week and should have all of the orders out by the middle to end of next week!
Donations: After doing more research we have learned that KN95 masks with valves are less effective. We have sourced non-valve KN95 masks variants from another source to start donating to more medical professionals in need. Orders have gone in and we are awaiting arrival!
Update: April 8, 2020 5pm EST
Camo Masks: 100% of the materials for the face masks have been ordered! Bulk materials are currently in transit to the facilities for production. We have reached out to other small businesses to ask for help in producing masks. We've found two that we think can help us out meaning these masks will be made in four different places around the Nation. Really exciting to be able to be giving people business so they can get back to work! In Boston we've already begun cutting and sewing the first batch of masks that is set to be completed by the end of the week. They will then ship to our fulfillment center and then be put into the mail to the first group of customers.
Donations: We've received the first sample of the KN95 masks we are aiming to give to hospitals as the masks you've donated. Very exciting to get our hands on one in person. We are placing an order today for another 1000 KN95 masks so we can make our first donation early next week.
Update: April 6, 2020 4pm EST
Over the weekend we received overwhelming support for this new product launch, far more than we could have anticipated and are busy finding additional manufacturing partners who can make these masks asap to get them into your hands. All of the materials for orders that were placed over the weekend have been ordered! Due to the tremendous support we have received we are now exploring the possibility of upgrading the masks you donated from the cotton covers to medical grade N95 masks.
Update April 3, 2020 6pm EST
Donations: We've received the first sample of the KN95 masks we are aiming to give to hospitals as the masks you've donated. Very exciting to get our hands on one in person. We are placing an order today for another 1000 KN95 masks so we can make our first donation early next week.
Update: April 6, 2020 4pm EST
Over the weekend we received overwhelming support for this new product launch, far more than we could have anticipated and are busy finding additional manufacturing partners who can make these masks asap to get them into your hands. All of the materials for orders that were placed over the weekend have been ordered! Due to the tremendous support we have received we are now exploring the possibility of upgrading the masks you donated from the cotton covers to medical grade N95 masks.
Update April 3, 2020 6pm EST
WOW! We would have never imagined the amount of support we would have received for these face masks. We are going to have our work cut out for our team of four! All hands on deck to get these made a soon as humanly possible. Thank you for putting your trust in us. This is going to be a busy weekend! Mark, Sal, Abe and Josh.
Update April 2, 2020 8pm EST
We are officially in the mask production and donation business! We sold our first camo mask ever. Excited to be able to provide a little style and protection to the sportsmen and women out there. Even more exciting is that we are going to be able to make these masks for hospitals and workers on the front lines of this epidemic. We are proud to say that we have not had to lay off or "furlough" any of our team, and your support with your purchases is letting us keep our doors open, and our entire supply chain with work. That supply chain includes: sewing team in MA, fabric mill in MO, fabric printing in TN, our team (TX, CO, OR, VA), our fulfillment team in NJ, our packaging suppliers (worldwide), and the shipping companies (worldwide).
Update April 2, 2020 8pm EST
We are officially in the mask production and donation business! We sold our first camo mask ever. Excited to be able to provide a little style and protection to the sportsmen and women out there. Even more exciting is that we are going to be able to make these masks for hospitals and workers on the front lines of this epidemic. We are proud to say that we have not had to lay off or "furlough" any of our team, and your support with your purchases is letting us keep our doors open, and our entire supply chain with work. That supply chain includes: sewing team in MA, fabric mill in MO, fabric printing in TN, our team (TX, CO, OR, VA), our fulfillment team in NJ, our packaging suppliers (worldwide), and the shipping companies (worldwide).
