When COVID-19 knocked us all off our feet a couple of months ago, Illinois manufacturers quickly pivoted to meet the demands to battle this growing pandemic. It is no surprise that companies like Mighty Hook are going above and beyond their normal operations and procedures to ensure their part in helping our state respond to the crisis effectively.
Mighty Hook is a Chicago manufacturer who, as you can guess from their name, designs and manufactures hooks and engineered hanging systems. Traditionally creating material handling products for the Organic Finishing and Industrial Coatings Industry, Mighty Hook has become another COVID-19 Manufacturing Hero in Illinois. Like most companies impacted by the crisis, sales were dropping and many of their pipeline projects were put on hold. This freed up capacity at Mighty Hook to assist another company – Stencil Ease – in the fight against COVID-19.
Stencil Ease is a manufacturer who pivoted from their core offerings and is now producing disposable face shields for medical and industrial professionals on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle. Also a friend of Mighty Hook’s president, Scott Rempala, Stencil Ease reached out for ideas on adding assembling capacity in Chicago. Seeing how their own operations had slowed down, this was the perfect opportunity for Mighty Hook to put their talent and resources to use. Rempala expressed that Mighty Hook has the means and interest in his team undertaking the assembly process – something totally new to them. Leveraging their excess capacity and strong team-focused culture, Mighty Hook has been able to produce up to 2000 units per day, within weeks!
Now in the business of assembling face shields, Mighty Hook is playing a significant role during this pandemic and they understand the critical need for certain supplies across the state. Being a long time IMEC client and a member of the IMEC Board of Directors, Rempala did not hesitate to join the 800+ companies using the Supply Chain Preparedness Support service to offer their assistance. Through this service, supplier capabilities are vetted and validated so they can be passed on to Governor Pritzker’s Essential Equipment Task Force who will then match suppliers with those in need.
“We believe that a combination of working harder, working smarter, and sometimes making selfless sacrifices for successful communal outcomes will be paramount to navigating through the social and business turbulence created by this pandemic. Our ability to utilize excess labor capacity, resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, to productively contribute to society at large by addressing shortages in PPE equipment, is precisely what the Mighty Hook commitment to teamwork is all about.” Scott Rempala, CEO - Mighty Hook and Member- IMEC Board of Directors.
There is something to be said about the silver linings this crisis has highlighted. For Mighty Hook, “it is the opportunity to solidify our commitment to teamwork and to our core values of respect and caring for others. The common thread for our organization is that we all want to effectively manage our way through the COVID-19 crisis together and have collective successes to celebrate along the way.”
If you are a manufacturer who can supply any of the more than 20 critical supplies identified by the Governor's Task Force, please let us know so we can connect you with those in need!
