Ford Motor Co. says it is partnering with 3M and GE Healthcare to speed up production of medical equipment and supplies for health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker, working closely with GE, will manufacture a simplified version of GE's existing ventilator design. These ventilators, which deliver air to COVID-19 patients in respiratory distress, could be produced at a Ford manufacturing site in addition to a GE location.
United Auto Workers assemblymen work on a 2018 Ford F-150 trucks being assembled at the Ford Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich., Sept. 27, 2018.Ford engineers are also helping to boost manufacturing capacity of 3M's Powered Air-Purifying Respirators by wielding parts from both companies to quickly get respirators to hospitals and health clinics.
FCA said it would manufacture and donate more than 1 million protective face masks per month to police, EMTs and firefighters as well as workers in hospitals and health care clinics. FCA will start manufacturing the masks in the coming weeks with initial distribution across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Retooling a car assembly line and turning it into a"ventilator line" may be unrealistic, she noted, but carmakers could set up temporary tents to manufacture the devices. Automakers would have to establish safety protocols to make sure the workers coming back to the production line are healthy and provided with the appropriate masks, shields and other equipment needed to perform the job with zero risk of infection.
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