PPE manufacturer on course to build the US's biggest glove factory

iNitrile, a medtech provider, and inventor and developer of automated disposable glove dispensers to combat infections in organizations, and a subsidiary of Texas Medical Technology, a medtech company, has raised $33 million to further develop its automatic glove dispenser process. 

The funding was raised by Jad Shraim, who is currently serving as co-founder and CFO of Texas Medical Manufacturing. Shraim is expanding his current role to include iNitrile and will now also serve as the co-founder and CFO of the newly formed entity. The funds raised by Shraim fuel the team’s vision to build the biggest glove factory in the US. Shraim will be joining the team headed by Dimitri Menin, President of Texas Medical Technology, and Omri Shaffran, Founder & CEO of Texas Medical Technology.

Jad Shraim has also worked as a Managing Director and a global market leader at Broadridge Financial Solutions, one of the largest financial technology solution firms globally. He’s an active entrepreneur who, alongside Omri, recognized the growing need for creating medical equipment at the outbreak of the pandemic. Jad saw an opportunity to provide preventative, life saving medical supplies that helped people on the front lines stay safe. 

“I’m thrilled to be on-board, Omri and myself have shared the same vision since the pandemic started paralysing business,” says Jad Shraim, co-Founder and CFO of iNitrile.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has played a key role in curtailing the spread of COVID-19, and our ability to leverage it institutionally on a broad scale will decide the fate of economies across the globe. Variants are still emerging and the pace of US vaccination efforts are slowing, meaning the threat of COVID-19 will prove difficult to shake off quickly.

Companies understandably prioritized taking action over quality assessment at the onset of the pandemic, but maintaining operations safely and retaining workplace confidence now requires a systematic rethink. The mindset needs to shift from businesses remissively requesting their employees bring PPE items to work, to standardizing a manageable, automated, and non-wasteful protocol which seamlessly normalizes PPE safety.

Disposable glove dispense

With its disposable glove dispenser, Texas Medical Technology’s iNitrile improves the user experience of disposable gloves, while also minimizing waste and cost. Most importantly, it eliminates the risk of user contamination. The machine first verifies an authorized user through its check-in function, utilizing radio-frequency identification to scan a  badge or tag. The machine then prompts the user to sanitize their hands via a built-in sanitization machine. A compartment then opens, allowing the user to insert his/her hand into an inflated glove. The machine is suitable for both latex and nitrile non-powdered gloves. 

iNitrile devices are interconnected and upload information to a cloud-based network, allowing users to maintain a clear overview of operations, requirements, and usage statistics. The iNitrile solution utilizes the creation of a management dashboard for internal users and a secure reporting system for customers hardware installations. This involved the creation of two Power BI Embedded reports that access data provided by an Azure SQL Database that is fed by the on-site hardware. These reports were later integrated into an existing ASP.NET web application that runs on a virtual machine in Microsoft Azure. 

An easily accessible and plentiful supply of disposable gloves improves facility sanitation, as well as prevents inadvertent infection from being transmitted within a workplace or venue. In addition, the ongoing use of the device enables organizations to reduce overhead on protective equipment supply costs, reducing up to 40% in glove waste over the first year of operation.

iNitrile’s built-in, cloud-based, management software enables businesses to streamline stock management by managing the usage process and supply levels. This enables decision-makers to break down and quickly establish estimations for glove consumption, maintaining supply and reducing waste by up to 27%. The company recently disclosed that it is currently in the process of building a iNitrile factory to keep manufacturing up with growing demand. 

“With the support of Texas Medical’s pedigree in PPE and our glove production starting imminently, I’m confident iNitrile will blaze a trail in the constantly-growing PPE sector,” adds Shraim.