Inquiries from hospitals and other organisations amount to more than 350,000 visas. First hospital delivery arrived on 25 March.
An alliance initiated by Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) to produce face shield visors using 3D printing now includes over 150 companies and universities. These include Boeing, Toyota Motor Company, Medtronic, Dunwoody College of Technology, the University of Central Florida and the University of Minnesota.
In the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic, Stratasys last week set itself the goal of producing 5,000 face shield visors free of charge from its own and partner capacities by March 27. These include both a 3D printed plastic frame and a transparent plastic visor that covers the entire face. According to Stratasys, this number will be exceeded today. The coalition could then produce over 11,000 face visors next week and at least 16,000 the following week.
Any 3D printing company that wants to help and can print at least 100 visors can fill out an online form to be invited to participate in the initiative. In Europe, the company serves as a one-stop shop to connect service offices with those who need help, and has taken up offers and requests in most major countries. The company has also published the complete printing and assembly instructions for the face shield visor so that everyone can produce face shield visors on their own. In the US, Stratasys is using its GrabCAD-Shop work order management software to assign health care orders to each coalition member.
To date, the Coalition is serving the needs of more than 30 different healthcare systems, including hospitals, clinics, university clinics and nursing homes. The first deliveries were made on Wednesday 25 March. Stratasys has received requests for 350,000 face shield visors, so further acceleration of production for all coalition members is critical.
"In recent weeks our industry has worked together in an unprecedented way," said Scott Drikakis, Healthcare Segment Leader at Stratasys. "There is great distress, but our coalition partners are showing great commitment. This gives us time to increase production of visors and other essential supplies. It's this fast, adaptable response that makes 3D printing what it is and I'm very proud of our people and partners."
Stratasys itself produces thousands of visors in Minnesota, California and Texas and provides the resources of Stratasys, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing and MakerBot. In addition, the company also responds to customer and partner requests for 3D printers, materials, on-demand parts and customer service. Despite the "Stay at home" arrangement, this demand can still be met at the moment. This does not include on-site service, which is only available to a limited extent.
The company is also reacting to the crisis in other ways. Stratasys is increasing the production of 3D printing materials to support its extensive partner network. The company has also provided material licenses free of charge for many of its high-end printers used to produce the visors during this period.
An initiative led by anesthesiologists at Massachusetts General Hospital will be launched next week under the name CoVent-19 Challenge. It will ask engineers and designers to help develop a new, rapidly deployable ventilator and other innovative solutions to the shortage of ventilators. Stratasys supports the competition and makes it known among GrabCAD users. This includes more than seven million professional designers, engineers, manufacturers and students. The company also offers prototype services to the finalists.
www.stratasys.com/covid-19
