Gesundheit! From steel to sneeze guards: How Ancaster’s IPS Metals Inc. is adapting to COVID-19

Three weeks ago, he noticed business was beginning to fall off in a slowing economy due to COVID-19.

Cameron Smith, owner of IPS Metals Inc. in Ancaster, asked himself: What can we do to diversify?"

The company does sheet metal work for steel buildings for commercial or industrial use. Normally the company employs 20 to 30 people, but the drop in business has the number at 15 currently.

His answer was a very large order of polycarbonate. The material is a type of plastic, optically clear, and is harder than Plexiglas.

The company began making sneeze guards, a clear barrier between customers and employees in doctor's offices, pharmacies, grocery and variety stores, gas stations and even golf courses.

Justin Davis, the company's general manager, is a former golf pro from the East Coast and they found a market for their product at courses there - which are slated to open Friday, May 1. The company is currently looking at designing an insert to divide players in a golf cart.

The company had already shipped 60 by Thursday, with orders for another 50. The phone inquiries continued during an interview with The Spectator.

We are trying to go after the non-essential service market to help them to reopen," said Smith.

A big boost for company was Premier Doug Ford's plans for reopening businesses, which includes a requirement for physical barriers between customers and employees.

Currently, the company is manufacturing four sizes of barriers from the material that it sources locally, laser cuts locally and assembles with aluminum or stainless-steel legs in the company shop. The shields come in pre-manufactured sizes of 24-by-32 inches to 48-by-32 inches - in half-inch-thick polycarbonate. Quarter-inch and three-sixteenth-inch thicknesses are available.

The sneeze guards come with a 10-by-8 inch hole for passing money or a debit machine through. The plastic is also precut with multiple holes for the legs to allow them to be adjusted off a countertop to allow items to be passed beneath.

The shield can also be fastened directly to counters or desks or hung from a ceiling.

The company also has the ability to do custom orders, including shaping and bending the polycarbonate.

Smith said the shields could help out in small offices where desks abut one another.

He said they would deliver and install in the GTA and Golden Horseshoe, and ship elsewhere.

The company is also looking into advertising banners for the top of the sneeze shields. The top of the shields would be just above eye level on a counter.

Smith said he could see advertising from a lottery covering the cost of the shields in a variety store.

Inquiries about the product can be made at Orders@IPSmetal.ca or 905-648-4848.

John Rennison is a Hamilton-based photojournalist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jrennison@thespec.com