In 2020 and 2021, we all became well-acquainted with nasal swabs. But small sticks we stuck up our noses, it turns out, were harder to come by than anyone could have predicted. A May 2020 survey of 118 labs in the US found that 60 percent reported limited swab supplies – making lack of swabs the most commonly reported supply-chain problem.
One small company that stepped into the fray of swab production was the two year old OPT Industries, a Massachusetts-based company with fifteen employees involved in additive manufacturing (think 3D printing) of dense microfiber structures. The company’s printers and software can print more than …
