Malaysian vehicle manufacturer PROTON has started producing face shields for medical frontliners. This could be the biggest commitment by the company to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Malaysia. The first batch of 8,000 units will be shipped out on 16 April 2020 to hospitals in Kelantan followed by other East coast states.
The face shields produced by PROTON are made at their Shah Alam plant, which has been quiet since 18 March 2020 due to the plant shutdown in compliance with the Movement Control Order (MCO) which was enforced by the Malaysian government in the fight against COVID-19, So this plant is now seeing activity as staff members return to produce the face shields.
The process began with designing and testing prototypes and getting feedback from end users to ensure the final product met their needs. At the same time, the project team had to plan for a production line that was both safe and efficient to meet with Covid-19 health protocols. This actually makes use of the rapid prototyping facilities that PROTON has, especially their design studio and their engineering division.
50 PROTON staff, who were chosen from a list of those who volunteered for the task, work on an assembly line to measure and cut the various components required before assembling the final product. According to PROTON, 3,000 units of the face shield can be produced in a single day, and the Company is expected to take approximately 20 days to produce the 60,000 units it has committed to deliver.
Aside from just the face shields, PROTON's vendors, as well as companies related to PROTON via their holding company, DRB-HICOM, have also contributed to this initiative. So while PROTON is responsible for the assembly and distribution of its face shields, the Company has received assistance and contributions from its vendor community who are eager to help out this cause.
Pos Logistics Sdn Bhd, one of the biggest logistics service providers in Malaysia is one of those that are helping out. They contributed over 2,000 large carton boxes that will be used to pack the face shields and make it easier to transport them.
Automotive component supplier, HICOM-Teck See Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn Bhd, is another vendor supporting this initiative. They have contributed 1500kg of polypropylene, one of the main components in a car bumper, which will be used to produce the frame of the face shields.
The original design for the face shield was contributed by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM). The designers at PROTON Design then developed the frame based on feedback from end users and also added the slogan "STAY STRONG! We will get through this!"
“PROTON is humbled by the response received both internally and outside of the company to our face shield project. The number of staff volunteering their services was overwhelming, despite inherent risks involved in leaving home and coming to work. Therefore, we have taken steps to ensure everybody is kept safe by providing PPEs and maintaining a minimum distance between each work station to maintain social distancing. "said Dato’ Radzaif Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of PROTON.
"At the same time, PROTON also reached out to our vendor community to get them involved and the response has been heart-warming. Malaysia’s automotive sector has the capability and desire to contribute to the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and hopefully we can do more in the coming weeks and months to help break the chain of infection,” added Datpo' Radzaif.
This effort is proudly a local venture with contributions from a local higher education institution and our local engineering capabilities. So push comes to shove, Malaysians can still design items within a short period of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment