Innovation

Wenzhou Yiyi Medical Equipment Co. is cooperating with some suppliers to develop new materials as the ban on plastic policy has been widely released in China; new degradable materials are in urgent demand. In the near future, Mrs. Zheng says they envisage the masks are going to be a daily necessity, which means more concern and focus will have to be put in the environment-sustainable materials. She believes the technique is being rapidly developed both inside and outside the country.

Inspiration

The company started to manufacture masks during the outbreak of pandemic from COVID-19 in China in 2020. The predecessor of Yiyi Medical was originally a shoe manufacturing company; they have been manufacturing shoes for almost 30 years, which are mostly sold to the United States and European countries. In 2020, the outbreak of pandemic caused an immediate sharp drop in shoe orders, and it was at that time they started to turn to mask manufacturing, and Yiyi Medical came into being. As a matter of fact, Yiyi Medical itself was established in 2020. They are now manufacturing both masks and shoes at this moment. The total employees they have now is about 300, among which 70 are on mask production lines. Mrs Zheng was inspired by the thought of having to otherwise lay off about half of her staff.

Overall impact

The company was birthed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the world in the early days of 2020 and posed many challenges. The company has worked relentlessly in the last year to meet the ongoing demand of masks during the pandemic, creating an alternative to help people during this trial times.

Business benefit

Pivoting to masks helped keep the business still running as they began to see a dip in sales. This change in the business helped the company to survive in the time where lots of other companies had to close their doors.

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Social and environmental benefit

The innovation helped to keep workers employed and paid. Had the company not diverged to manufacturing of masks, Mrs. Zheng would have had to lay off about 150 employees, which means more than 150 families would have been caught in financial crises.

Interview

Mrs. Zheng, Yan, Manager of Executive Operations

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