Lakeland Industries, an international provider of protective clothing, projected that sales of protective equipment will continue to rise in the coming years.
The personal protective equipment market continues to grow worldwide at an estimated rate of 7.0 to 7.5%, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, as developing countries increasingly adopt protection standards similar to those of North America and Europe.
At the same time, standards in more mature markets are becoming stricter, covering more workers and more risks.
For Lakeland Industries, this growth rate is likely to be affected by the pandemic and subsequent economic conditions.
However, the company believes that these fundamental growth drivers will remain.
In that context, Lakeland Industries believes it is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these trends with its presence in many important and high-growth markets around the world.
But company management also understands that significant investment in these markets in terms of sales staff, sales assurance, and improved distribution (local warehousing) is required for Lakeland Industries to meet its revenue growth goals as many of these markets become more competitive.
Protective equipment
In order to promote future improvements in operating income, cash availability and business prospects, Lakeland Industries made multiple investments in operations and organizational expansion.
Additional sales and marketing staff have been recruited around the world to increase penetration in existing markets and seek new sales channels.
The company manufactures and sells a full line of industrial protective clothing and accessories for the public and industrial protective clothing market.
Globally, products are sold worldwide through its inside sales teams, customer support group, and authorized independent sales representatives to a network of more than 1,600 global security and industrial supply distributors.
Its authorized distributors serve end-users such as integrated petroleum, chemical/petrochemical, automotive, steel, glass, construction, foundry, janitorial, pharmaceutical and high-tech electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific and medical laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry.
In addition, in United States, the company supplies federal, state, and local government agencies and departments, including fire and police, airport rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Internationally, it sells directly to a mix of end users and industrial distributors depending on the particular country and market.
In addition to the United States, sales are made to more than 50 foreign countries, most of which went to China, the European Economic Community, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, India and Southeast Asian.
