Ford partners with Thermo Fisher to fuel critical equipment production

The dramatic coronavirus outbreak has disrupted livelihoods, businesses, and communities across the globe. Companies worldwide are putting their best foot forward to reduce the pandemic impact on public health. Recently, Ford Motor Company has announced its plan to produce critical medical equipment and supplies in efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has reportedly partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a scientific instrument provider, to accelerate the production testing kits for COVID-19.

Ford is also taking proactive steps like manufacturing reusable gowns from airbag material to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Sources cite that the Ford will help Thermo Fisher Scientific to accelerate the production of COVID-19 collection kits.

At the company’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, Ford engineers will set up extra collection kit production machinery. They are also helping Thermo Fisher to modify machinery to produce plastic vials essential in drive-through coronavirus test collection.

This move highlights the companies’ latest efforts to meet the increasing demand for supplies and equipment such as face masks, face shields, ventilators, protective gowns, and medical devices that used in treating COVID-19 disease.

In a similar move, in March, Ford announced a partnership with 3M to develop PAPRs (Powered Air-Purifying Respirators) to manufacture over 3 million face shields at its Plymouth-based factory. The company also provided a recent update on this partnership and announced plans to produce other medical equipment.

As per the sources, Ford will start the production of PAPRs at its Vreeland- based production facility. Volunteers of United Auto Workers will be employed to assemble PAPR devices. Ford claims that the company may produce 100,000 PAPRs in the forthcoming time.

Speaking on which, Jim Baumbick, Vice President, Ford Enterprise Product Line Management said that the company is focusing on meeting the increasing demand of critical equipment which will be higher by April end, and the months of May and June.

Source Credit - https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/13/ford-partners-with-thermo-fisher-on-covid-19-test-kits-expands-production-to-face-masks-gowns

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