DTI 4-A’s SSF for Garments Production Manufactures PPE Coveralls for Healthcare Workers

The Department of Trade and Industry-Regional Operations Group (DTI-ROG) and DTI-Region
4A, through its Shared Service Facility (SSF) for Garments Production, collaborated with Reliance
Producers Cooperative in Carmona, Cavite, in manufacturing laboratory gowns, jump suits, and
face masks for the country’s healthcare workers.

The initiative is in response to the call of the Department of Health (DOH) to work closely with the
DTI, industry associations, and private firms to produce personal protective equipment (PPEs)
locally.

Established on April 4, 2017, the Reliance Producers Cooperative is a member of the
Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP), which has been tapped by
the DOH to produce 10,000 PPE coveralls daily. The Cooperative is the first and only Philippine
Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) registered and authorized to engage in garment manufacturing
and exporting in the Philippines. It has 2,300 member-workers catering a wide range of products
to international customers with distinguished brands.

Since April 8, 2020, Reliance Producers is manufacturing 600 lab gowns, 500 jump suits, and
1,000 face masks per day with 300 member-workers. Upon the arrival of additional raw materials,
they are targeting 5,000 pieces of PPE per day with added workforce.

The DTI 4-A provided ten (10) units of single needle-lock stitch needle feed machine, six (6) units
of over lock five-threads machine, six (6) units of cover stitch machine, four (4) units of buttonhole
machine, and four (4) units of bar tack machine to the Cooperative on June 1, 2016. Presently,
these machines are used to manufacture the PPEs, using raw materials that have met
international standards for waterproofing and resistance to contaminants.

“In this very difficult time, it is vital that we have enough PPEs for our healthcare workers to ensure
their safety in this fight against COVID-19, and we are happy with the support that we are getting
from different sectors. The use of our SSFs to produce more PPEs is our way of helping and
protecting the healthcare workers and other frontliners since they are the ones who are most
exposed to dangers,” said DTI-CALABARZON Director Marilou Toledo.

The SSF Project is a major component of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME)
Development programs to improve and develop competitiveness among the entrepreneurs by
giving them access to energy efficient technologies and more sophisticated equipment.
Beneficiaries of the project are the actual and potential users of the SSF, which should be
predominantly cooperatives, associations, or groups of MSMEs including individual entrepreneurs
who may not be members of cooperatives, associations, corporations, or organizations.