Ford Motor Company Now Making Respirators and Gowns

From the Detroit Free Press, 4/15/2020

Ford Motor Co. is expanding its efforts to help the medical community in treating coronavirus.

The Dearborn-based automaker said Monday it has designed and will produce powered air-purifying respirators, as well as face masks, at two Michigan facilities.

Ford also is ramping up production of reusable medical gowns made from vehicle air bag material. It also will help make more desperately needed testing collection kits.

The respirator, worn by health care workers, will be made by about 90 UAW paid volunteers at Ford’s Vreeland facility near Flat Rock. Production starts Tuesday. Ford normally builds the Mustang and Lincoln Continental at its Flat Rock Assembly plant.

About 30 UAW paid volunteers are making face masks at Ford's Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights. The masks are for internal use, but Ford is pursuing certification for medical use, too. Eventually, 80 workers will be needed as production increases.

“We knew that to play our part helping combat coronavirus, we had to go like hell and join forces with experts like 3M to expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies,” said Jim Baumbick, vice president of Ford Enterprise Product Line Management.

"We were thoughtful in terms of how we could produce this equipment ... being mindful of being able to restart our plants for automotive," Baumbick said. "We've been thoughtful around what we know is our internal need, as we start to crank up and restart ... but making sure we continue to help these great men and women on the front line."

But Ford is clear the medical products are not a new line of business for the company.

"We have no desire to develop these products to build a business. This is doing what we can to help," Baumbick said.

Meanwhile, the UAW supports the use of the facilities to make medical products.

“UAW Ford members continue to step up and volunteer to work during this difficult time as we expand at the facility across from Flat Rock to make respirators and at the Van Dyke Transmission Plant to make face masks for medical use,” Gerald Kariem, vice president of UAW Ford Department said in a statement.

The UAW, Kariem said, will continue to work with Ford to follow stringent CDC guidelines and go above and beyond to protect members who volunteer to make the medical products. 

100,000 respirators

Ford can manufacture 100,000 respirators over the next two months, Baumbick said, noting there is incredible demand for the product. 

Ford is not releasing the price for a respirator. But pending regulatory approval, 3M will distribute the respirators to U.S. health care workers, the company said. 

Ford has worked with 3M and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to developed the powered air-purifying respirator to protect health care workers.

The powered air-purifying respirator includes a hood and face shield to cover health care professionals’ heads and shoulders, Ford said.

A high-efficiency filter system provides a supply of filtered air for up to eight hours, Ford said. The air-blower system — similar to the fan found in F-150’s ventilated seats — is powered by a rechargeable and portable battery that helps keep the respirator in constant use.

In developing the respirators, Ford looked for parts it could use "off the shelf," said Marcy Fisher, Ford director of Global Body Exterior and Interior Engineering. 

"The power source in it is an off-the-shelf battery that we use," Fisher said. 

Air-bag gowns

Likewise, for the isolation gowns Ford is making for hospitals, Fisher said Ford worked with Beaumont Health to develop the  proper fit. More than 5,000 gowns have already been delivered to Beaumont.

"The material is the same material we use in our vehicles for our air bags," said Fisher. "It meets the requirement for liquid permeation to it. It's a nylon material."

The isolation gowns are washable up to 50 times, Fisher said. Production will reach 75,000 gowns a week by Sunday and scale up to 100,000 gowns for the week of April 19 and beyond. By July 4, Ford supplier Joyson Safety Systems will cut and sew 1.3 million gowns, Fisher said. It was not known where the gowns are  being produced.