Masks & ventilators: automakers go into “war time” mode
When the war against the COVID-19 is won, and it will be won, automakers and suppliers will be remembered as ones playing decisive roles.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions.
The auto industry, one of the hardest hit industries by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, is acting swiftly to do what it can to help fight it despite production shutdowns: turn their car production lines into making medical supplies and equipment.
This issue’s special report takes a look in detail how automakers and suppliers in China including SAIC-GM-Wuling, BYD, GAC Group, Chang’an, ZF and Envision, among others, have joined efforts to help expand daily production and output capacity of one of the most ubiquitous items used during the outbreak: masks.
Daily production and output capacity of masks had surpassed both 110 million units as of the end of February, 12 and 5.2 times the levels at the beginning of the month, thanks in part to aforementioned companies, which combined had daily output capacity of more than 8 million masks, roughly 7–8 percent of total capacity.
“Whatever the people need, Wuling will make’em.”
This new motto from SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has branded its masks with one of the best-selling automotive brands in China, has become viral on social media.
It pretty much applies to everyone else that has joined the movement: whatever the people need, the auto industry will make’em.
On the other side of the Pacific, GM and Ford along with suppliers and partners are racing to make ventilators and masks as the U.S. becomes the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the U.S. Big Three including FCA Group to suspend production.
GM began making masks on March 27 with potential daily capacity of 100,000 units and announced on the same day that it will work with Ventec Life Systems to produce FDA-approved ventilators at GM’s Kokomo, Indiana manufacturing facility.
Ford announced on March 30 that it will begin production of ventilators in collaboration with GE Healthcare with the goal to produce 50,000 by July 4 and up to 30,000 a month thereafter as needed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on March 31 that his company will ship FDA-approved ventilators worldwide within Tesla delivery regions for free.
Steering systems supplier Nexteer Automotive said on April 1 that it will be is using its 3D printers in Saginaw, Michigan and Tychy, Poland to make plastic masks and face shield headbands, with output capacity expected to reach more than 1,000 masks per day.
In Europe, Lamborghini began producing surgical masks and protective plexiglass shields at its production plant in Sant’Agata Bolognese on March 31, while SEAT is converting its Leon production line at its Martorell plant in Spain into making automated ventilators. Groupe PSA, Valeo, Air Liquide and Schneider Electric announced jointly on March 31 that they plan to produce 10,000 respirators within 50 days in response to French government request. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team is working with University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospital (UCLH) to develop a breathing aid called Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).
It certainly feels like World War II time, when U.S. automakers stopped car production and built tanks, trucks and planes.
Expect this time it’s a war without smoke, as they say.
The ingenuity of the auto industry is once again on display as stakeholders take proactive actions amid the crisis rather than just fall victim to it.
One big reason why automakers and suppliers have been able to or are willing to move swiftly to making masks and other medical supplies is that they enjoy the advantages of working in a supply chain composed of a multitude of upstream suppliers. They also use some of the most complex machines with precision manufacturing processes, key to making medical equipment and supplies.
Furthermore, companies like BYD and GM, who have extensive experience with battery R&D, manufacturing and testing, which require clean facilities, are at a natural advantage because mask making require similar clean production environment. This was especially evident at BYD, who was able to quickly ramp up daily output capacity of masks to 5 million units thanks to its vertical integration and upstream manufacturing capabilities.
When the war against the COVID-19 is won, and it will be won, automakers and suppliers will be remembered as ones playing decisive roles.
This editorial appears in the April 2020 (Vol. 15, №4) issue of China Automotive Review, our monthly tabloid e-magazine in English focused exclusively on the Chinese auto industry.
