Ford retools its car plant to produce face shields for healthcare workers
Ford will produce and donate as many as 100,000 face shields for healthcare workers from its Melbourne plant.
It’s a return of sorts of manufacturing at Australia’s former car-making plants.
Ford has become the latest company to retool its engineering operations and will produce and donate as many as 100,000 face shields for healthcare workers from its Melbourne plant.
Workers in the carmaker’s Broadmeadows factory, in Melbourne’s north will make the shields, with 50,000 already complete. The facility was at its peak rolling out tens of thousands of Ford Falcons a year before it ceased operations in 2016.
The move comes after prototypes were tested in five different Victorian hospitals.
Ford Australia & New Zealand president and chief executive Kay Hart said making face shields was “something new for us”.
“We said from the beginning of COVID-19 that any way we could help, we would help. Producing face shields is certainly something new for us, but our innovation team and engineers were able to test a number of different designs in hospitals and with their input we have been able to get the face shield right for the people who will be wearing them,” she said.
“It’s great that our team has been able to quickly pivot to put their skills towards producing the face shield while also continuing their global work designing and engineering pick-up trucks and SUVs,” she said.
Toyota has also developed and produced face shields for hospitals at its Port Melbourne manufacturing facility, with some 2000 to be donated to hospitals, with an upscaling of production on offer if the need arises.
The Victorian government is assisting Ford in working through the healthcare specifications required by the state’s healthcare sector and is reportedly looking to place orders.
“Whether it’s masks in Shepparton, hospital bed castors in Sunshine or face shields at Ford’s Broadmeadows plant, the agility that our manufacturers have displayed in a volatile and high-pressure environment has been remarkable,” said Victorian Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade Martin Pakula. “The community-wide benefits of a strong manufacturing industry have been evident across Victoria.”
The Victorian government has already registered 300 offers of assistance from local industry to produce PPE and medical equipment and provide services to build, clean and decontaminate facilities. Ford’s Broadmeadows facilities are some of the oldest in the business in Australia, with the last car rolling off the production line in October 2016.
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