Ford factory breathes life into ventilator supply
Ford is making ventilators for the NHS after transforming a warehouse at its Dagenham site in just three weeks.
3D printing processes were employed to make key components for 200 workstations – which adhere to social distancing requirements – for the Ford volunteers that include operators, product coaches, technicians and engineers from a range of departments.
In total, at full production, more than 650 people will be working in three shifts at the facility.
Graham Hoare, chairman, Ford of Britain, said: “It took many late nights and a lot of hard work, but the ingenuity and commitment of our people has been just remarkable, and it shows how a crisis can bring out the best in us. The way they have sacrificed time with family and also been so willing to learn something new to help build these life-saving devices is full testimony to their desire to deliver, and it makes me very proud to be part of this team.”
The facility is part of the VentilatorChallengeUK Consortium – a collaboration between leading tech and engineering companies to deliver 15,000 much-needed Penlon Prima ES02 ventilators that the NHS will use for critically ill Covid-19 patients.
