In a bid to combat the impact of COVID-19, international aerosol dispensing specialists, LINDAL have transformed some of their manufacturing equipment at their French production site to produce vital face shields that will all be donated free of charge to local key workers.
It has taken the company’s Research and Development team from their Global Innovation Centre in Val de Briey and their production team, under a week to design and modify selected assembly lines and initiate a daily production of 1,000 face shields.
Iinitially created using 3D printing technology, the shields are manufactured from injection moulding which utilises recycled plastics from LINDAL’s own production waste, making them sustainable, as well as vital.
The final assembly of the masks is completed by hand, which is the longest part of the process. Some dedicated employees are even completing the assembly in their own time to ensure as many face shields as possible are available.
Considered to be a valuable type of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for key workers, the face shields are now in mass production, with the first donation of 100 masks made to local firefighters at the end of April and a total of over 4,000 shields given to key workers to date. To ensure the continued and appropriate allocation of the shields, and to prioritise demands based on critical needs, LINDAL has partnered with local Health Authority, ARS (Agence Regionale de Santé) who will centralise all donation requests and coordinate distribution.
Internally, LINDAL has ensured all employees are equipped with full PPE, including the new face shields, so they can continue the essential job they are doing. At LINDAL’s factories and offices in France and across the world, strict additional hygiene controls, social distancing and home office working have also been introduced.
Plant manager at LINDAL France, Romain Tesse says: “At a time when so many people are affected by the consequences of this global pandemic, we have been mindful of what we can do to support our customers and community. Thanks to the ingenuity, belief and dedication of our R&D and production teams, our ability to be responsive to this situation has been realised in only a matter of days, from initial concept, to actual production.”
To increase the volume of mask production and to further protect the community from COVID-19, LINDAL is offering to share its 3D printing and injection moulding CAD designs with other companies who may also want to produce the shields.
Organisations who would like to benefit from a face shields donation are advised to contact ARS.
Agence Régional de Santé Grand-Est
3 Boulevard Joffre
54000 Nancy
Tel : 03 83 39 30 30
Mail : ars-grandest-contact@ars.sante.fr
