Textile & Apparel Network Activates to Help Medical Community During the Coronavirus

The Americas Apparel Producers’ Network (AAPN) is leveraging its association management software so its members can help the medical community during the coronavirus crisis.

The group has activated its 200 member organizations and 1,600 members who are interested in manufacturing masks and other sewn essentials. Given the breadth of its apparel and textile membership, the reach has been broad, with each member able to share unique knowledge of who is using their products, what their customers are making, who they are making it for, their capacity and more.

Connecting the members on behalf of this initiative enables them to individually ask about production not just from other AAPN members, but from their entire customer base.

The AAPN Sourcing Center was activated at 8 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, and 800 people logged on during the first 12 hours.

As a result of the Sourcing Center, a North Carolina-based textile mill that had closed on Friday, March 20, because of a lack of orders reopened on Monday to begin knitting fabric for masks.

AAPN has opened use of the exchange to members of other industry associations, including NAUMD (uniforms), IFAI (fabric), SPESA (equipment), SEAMS (regional) and AAFA (lobby).

“Mike Tyson once said, ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ The world just got punched in the mouth,” said Mike Todaro, AAPN managing director. “No list can solve it, but a network just might.”

The AAPN Sourcing Center is password protected for producers only, but more information about the AAPN is available on www.aapnetwork.net.