Customer Service Wants to Help – FAQ

Question 1: How thick are your nitrile gloves?

Disposable gloves are measured in mils, a mil is 1/1000 of an inch. This is measured using a micrometer. Since a micrometer measures a small portion of the surface area of a glove, often times you will see a range of mil thickness. Because gloves are dipped when they are produced, there is a difference in thickness in areas of the gloves (usually the palm and the fingertips).

Although this has been the way glove thickness has always been measured, there is a new and more accurate measurement style. The overall glove industry is moving to using gram weight rather than mil thickness. This is to ensure that the weight of the glove proves how much raw material was used in the product. Ammex is adding this new measurement style in new marketing materials.

Here are our 9 different Brands/Styles of Nitrile gloves and their thickness:

Ammex Nitrile – 4mil
GlovePlus Heavy Duty Nitrile – 8mil
GlovePlus Nitrile – 5mil
GlovePlus Nitrile Black – 5mil
Gloveworks Nitrile – 5mil
Slate Nitrile – 3mil
Xtreme Nitrile – 4mil
Xtreme 3 Nitrile – 3mil

Question 2: Why have both Exam and Industrial grade gloves?
You will notice that all our gloves are labeled Exam or Industrial. Exam gloves can be used for any application, while industrial are limited in their application. So why aren’t all gloves just exam gloves?

When gloves are going to be used in a medical environment, the gloves must be tested, approved and labeled properly to guarantee safety. This involves special testing at the manufacturer in accordance with FDA regulations as well as random shipment inspection to ensure compliance. Of course with the additional requirements, there are added costs in manufacturing and distributing them.

Although industrial grade and exam grade gloves may seem similar, industrial grade gloves have not gone through the additional testing you would want if you were going to be coming into contact with blood or bodily fluids. If you were going to use gloves in a painting application for example, you would have no need for an exam glove. Having industrial gloves gives you the choice of having a lower price when the medical need isn’t there.

Learning from People Smarter Than Us - 5 Books that Helped Shape Ammex

Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill

One of the most highly regarded and influential best-selling books of all time, Mr. Hill has helped Ammex by teaching us to focus on the desire to be successful and utilize our talents in leadership, vision, and persistence. Acknowledgement of the power of a positive attitude, now a staple in business and personal growth literature, got its start here. After more than 70 years, this book continues to inspire us.

Our Favorite Quote: “Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.” -Napoleon Hill



Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
by Verne Harnish

This isn’t just another book of good ideas – Mr. Harnish speaks about mastering concepts. From things as complex as defining our core values to the seemingly easy adaptation of rhythm in our daily meetings – Ammex was able to take ideas and start to implement them in beneficial and strategic ways. This book helped us to define both who we are and where we want to go.

Our Favorite Quote: “Keep everything stupidly simple. If your strategies, plans, decisions, systems, etc. seem complicated, they are probably wrong.” -Verne Harnish



Good to Great
by Jim Collins

Knowing where Ammex wanted to go was the first step. And the next step came from Mr. Collins. Knowing the value of each team member and making sure they are in the best position for them not only helped to increase productivity, but also created a breeding ground of ideas for improvement. And with more inspired and dedicated team members, we could remain more focused on being disciplined enough to adhere to our values. This book painted a clear picture of how we could do our very best.

Our Favorite Quote: “The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.” -Jim Collins



The Ultimate Sales Machine
by Chet Holmes

Having established values and a great team, Ammex needed to fine tune our processes and practices. Mr. Holmes gave us a fresh perspective in many areas of business. Ideas that helped us to use our time more effectively, such as revising our “to-do” lists, how to give better and more successful presentations, and helping us to understand how to use market data to our advantage. This book took both our sales, and how we look at it, to the next level.

Our Favorite Quote: “ Concentration is like a muscle and it strengthens as you concentrate more.” -Chet Holmes



Little Red Book of Selling
by Jeffrey Gitomer

Sales is what makes everything happen here at Ammex, so at the end of the day if we aren’t selling, we aren’t succeeding. Mr. Gitomer helps us to remember how to keep sales the focus but do it with a positive attitude, sincerely caring about our customers, taking pride and joy in our work, and always giving 110%. This book is one we frequently re-read to remind us of the fundamentals of selling.

Our Favorite Quote: “The sale is yours for the asking; all you gotta do is ask for it in the right way.” -Jeffrey Gitomer

Latex prices increase - what can you do about it?

Sometimes it is hard to think about the weather affecting the prices of products you use everyday. It is especially hard when it’s happening on the other side of the world. Well, due to heavy rains in Southeast Asia, where most rubber is farmed, speculators predict raw latex will only continue to increase through the remainder of the year and into early next year. Already latex has reached an all time high, so it is hard to predict how much higher it is going to get before the prices hopefully start to come back down.

The latex supply naturally decreases in the winter months, due to colder climate making it slower to collect, so weather will always play a role in the production of a natural product. However, prices have continued to rise. Looking back on pricing from October 2009 versus October 2010, there has been over a 58% increase in the price of raw latex. This is due to the demand for other products, such as tires, putting increased supply and pricing pressure on the latex used for disposable gloves.

So how can you compete with a raw material price increase that shows no signs of lowering? Finding alternatives to latex gloves is a great way to do that. Both nitrile and vinyl gloves are man-made, non-latex products. As the price of latex has increased and the use of disposable gloves grows, the alternative glove market has developed more and better options. There are nitrile gloves that outperform latex in durability, and vinyl gloves that can dramatically cut the price of using gloves. Although their prices are directly related to the current price of oil, right now their current price is more stable than that of latex.

Another way to avoid getting hit with these increases is to stock up before the prices soar. When the price of latex at the source is raised, the market will not see those new price increases until about 90 days afterward. It isn’t too often that you are given this amount of time to prepare for price hikes, so why not get product you know you will need at a price you know will be better?

Latex, no matter what the price, will continue to be a staple in the glove world. But with no end in sight of increased pricing, it might be time to see what alternatives you have – and maybe find a product that works for you and saves you money.