On the outskirts of a Victorian country town, inside a tiny but busy factory, we find some unassuming heroes of the global pandemic.

It's an unusual sight – production line staff working side-by-side with army personnel.

"I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that one day we'd have soldiers in our factory," Med-Con CEO Steve Csizar tells A Current Affair.

Med-cons tiny factory on the outskirts of a Victorian country town is in overdrive. (A Current Affair)

The family-run company – the only factory in the country which produces surgical face masks – is now working in overdrive, pumping out almost 200,000 units in a single day.

"We've gone from possibly making two million masks a year to all of a sudden ramping up to a potential two million masks a week," Mr Csizar said.

With a global shortage of medical equipment, Mr Csizar said the federal government had ordered more than 30 million masks, with overseas supply chains collapsing.

Before the crisis, his company only accounted for a few per cent of the Australian market.

Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Crowley said it had been a "learning curve" for his troops. (A Current Affair)

Now, Med-Con is in the process of hiring 30 new staff, and adding additional machines to the plant, Mr Csizar said.

"These were discussions that the government should have had with us when it was peacetime," he said.

"Now it's war-time.

"War-time is always a bit too late."

Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Crowley said it had been a "learning curve" for his troops.

"We are doing production line duties, so we are making the face masks.

"We're also doing repair and maintenance on the machines," he told A Current Affair.

Med-Con is the only factory in the country which produces surgical face masks (A Current Affair)

The dozen Army members at Med-Con will remain at the company until it hires and trains new staff.

The surgical masks can't come soon enough for doctors like Brisbane GP Maria Boulton who said she had to go to Bunnings in a bid to source vital supplies.

"I think people will be horrified when they realise that doctors are going to hardware stores in order to buy respirator masks," she told A Current Affair.

"What needs to happen now and urgently is for the state and federal governments in Australia to tell us clearly as GPS where our protected personal equipment is going to come from."

The prime minister's office did not respond to requests for comment.