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“Avon gas masks are great. They flow really well. You can actually see out of them and you can actually shoot a rifle whilst wearing it as well. It’s one of the most comfortable gas masks I’ve ever worn and I've worn quite a few of them."

Fire Arms Instructor Aurora Police Department

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Avon Protection was selected to supply its ST53 multi-role modular respiratory protective equipment system to Hot Zone Solutions. 

University of Wisconsin Technical Alliance
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1. BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Avon is a world leader in the design, test and manufacture of advanced Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) respiratory protection solutions to the worlds military, law enforcement, first responder, emergency services, fire and industrial markets. Avon has a unique capability in CBRN protection based on a range of advanced CBRN technologies in respirator design, filtration and compressed air breathing apparatus. This enables Avon to develop specialised solutions that take full account of user requirements. Avon also operates a world leading dairy business, manufacturing liners and tubing for the automated milking process.

 

Protection & Defence

This business consists of a growing range of respiratory protection products. The main Protection & Defence products are respirators or gas masks (product names S10, FM12, M50, C50, ST53 and M53) together with a range of spares and accessories; the CE approved emergency hood (EH20), NIOSH approved emergency hood (NH15) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (primarily the Viking product range). These respirators and escape hoods offer breathing protection to varying degrees against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats while the SCBA equipment offers protection in oxygen depleted environments. We also manufacture the consumable filters used by these products and thermal imaging camera equipment. Earlier in the year the product range was improved with the approval of our emergency hood to USA National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) standards. A new escape hood is being developed for the US Federal Government (click here to read about it) and a pipeline of further new product developments is being established.

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Our respiratory protection products are sold direct to military markets where our primary customers are the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as well as a number of approved friendly governments globally. Other significant markets are categorised under the Homeland Security banner that includes the Police and other emergency services and are sold either directly or through distribution channels. The SCBA and thermal imaging equipment is focused on fire services and other industrial users primarily through a distribution network in the US. All these products are safety critical and the markets are consequently highly regulated with the approval standards creating significant entry barriers. The product life cycles are long and standardisation to a particular product by users is the norm.

Dairy

Our Dairy business manufactures and sells products used in the automated milking process, primarily rubberware such as liners and tubing. These products can be in direct contact with the cow and are replaced regularly to ensure product hygiene, animal welfare and to maximise milk quality. The global market is concentrated in high consumption automated markets in North America and Western Europe where we have significant market shares. Potential exists outside our traditional markets in particular in China, which is experiencing rapidly increasing demand for dairy products, and in mechanised milking. Our products are manufactured for major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) as well as being sold through distributors under our own Milk-Rite brand. We excel in product design, materials specification and manufacturing efficiency. We are working to bring a wider range of dairy products to market under our Milk-Rite brand, enhancing the farmer’s view of Milk-Rite as their primary technical solutions provider.


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