A low cost, high productivity alternate solution to manufacture a wide range of the nose clips for use in protective face mask applications - "Face Mask Quick Clip Tool”

Brandauer, a 2019 Queens Award for Enterprise Winner for International Trade, already provides over 24,000,000 nose clips per year, supplying into the European, African and South East Asia regions, with a single nose clip design. We have seen increased requirements for other designs since the outbreak of Covid-19 and this project will capture a route to market with existing customers while providing manufacturing solutions for other models of masks, thus opening up very high-volume supply prospects in the USA and other regions worldwide.

Our versatile tooling, which would be solely Brandauer owned, would provide multiple platforms and customers with a range nose clips, delivered in a short period of time, in multiple materials outputting up to 500,000 clips per day.

The tooling solution will be precision engineered inhouse in our toolroom, allowing high speed production to fulfil demand of more than 100,000,000 face masks per year. Made in Birmingham, these clips can fulfil all demands throughout the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world as we have already demonstrated with our supply to the 3M group. Any shape, for home application or on a large scale for face mask manufacturers, fitting children or adults can be catered for in a low-cost method once the novel quick turn base tooling and auxiliaries are in place.

The innovative way that the clips can be handled from the high-speed pressing environment to support the application on to the masks, demonstrates that any requirement from 20mm to 150mm wide, can be achieved with low investment cost and short lead times.

Extension for Impact


Due to reduced staff following government guidance with the pandemic we have had difficulty in fulfilling all the project areas.

Our staff have either been furloughed or worked from home this has had an impact on the general day to day activities of the business ensuring we maintain our delivery and performance to our customer requirements with the projects then adding an extra pressure in some areas.

However the project then enabled us to bring staff back to the business quicker than previously anticipated where our furlough claim was reduced for Sept / October to help increase our productivity on site adjusting to the new norm and allowing more time on various R&D projects.

Whilst we have achieved some of our objectives we have seen the project time frame slip slightly or lose gravitas therefore the extension is being requested to pull the project back in line with our initial time frame and help secure the business and employees working on the project in the short term.