The Rising Global Demand for Disposable Gloves

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over, as there are many challenges associated with the introduction and distribution of the upcoming vaccines. At the same time, the global demand for disposable gloves is rapidly rising in these unprecedented times.

Along with gloves, the demand for other protective equipment like PPEs and face masks is also increasing and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the massive demand.

A study indicates that the global PPE market will be worth about $94 billion by 2027. The primary reason behind this huge increase is the fact that products like gloves are now not only needed by medical personnel but by the general public as well.

The disposable gloves market alone is expected to rise from $7 billion to about $19 billion by 2027. Moreover, leading gloves manufacturers in Malaysia have made it clear that the current supply of rubber gloves will not be able to meet the rising demand in the next three years.

According to studies, around 120 billion gloves are needed in Malaysia in the next three years. However, the industry is facing a massive shortage due to the pandemic and disruption in the supply chain.

Another challenge created by the shortage of disposable gloves is that it has resulted in a significant increase in the price of gloves and other products like masks and sanitizers. As a result, people are finding it extremely difficult to get these products during this health crisis.

According to the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), wearing rubber gloves in public does not have much significant impact on being protected against the coronavirus if the gloves are not used correctly.

However, there are some contradictory studies and medical points of view. As a result, the trend of wearing gloves in places like supermarkets and public transport is increasing quickly, and the demand for both examination and surgical gloves has increased.

Malaysia has an important role in the global gloves market. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of rubber gloves and contributes to about 60% of the global exports.

The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association,(MARGMA) is projecting the worldwide demand to increase from 296 billion to 330 billion in 2020. As a result, the shortage of disposable gloves is expected for the next few years while the demand will keep rising due to the global pandemic.

A lot of different measures are being discussed to meet the rising demand for disposable gloves. It is important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant change in user behaviour which is expected to continue in the future as well. Most of the gloves manufacturers in Malaysia are seeing an increase of about 30% in demand for rubber gloves, especially from developed countries.

To cater to this massive demand growth, manufacturers are considering the expansion of their capacities by opening more production lines and completing them quickly. Moreover, the current production plants are being scaled up to add additional plants and produce more products.

Glove manufacturing is a time-consuming process because a lot of time has to be allocated for glove inspection and making sure they are defect-free and fit properly. Luckily, most glove manufacturing processes can be automated with the help of modern automated visual inspection.

Companies like Cortex Robotics are playing an important role by providing an efficient and reliable glove AVI (automated visual inspection) system that can easily, accurately and efficiently inspect all areas of the glove’s top and bottom surface. Moreover, such a system inspects gloves from all different angles and can also detect different colours of the gloves.

A major advantage of such a glove AVI system is that glove manufacturers no longer need to spend resources such as time and labour on manual inspection. Instead, they will be getting reliable results from automated visual inspection to detect any kind of tear, incomplete beading, stains, and double-dipping in gloves.

Therefore, by relying on Cortex Robotics glove automated visual inspection system, companies can automate the glove inspection process and extensively speed up the entire manufacturing so that they can fulfil the rising global demand for gloves. In this way, they will not only satisfy the consumers but also play a critical role in boosting the economy.

The demand for disposable gloves is certainly rising in these challenging times, and many manufacturers are having a hard time meeting the massive demand.

However, by innovating manufacturing processes using modern glove inspection methods, manufacturers can speed up the process and produce more gloves to fulfil global demand.

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