Ford to launch production of respirators at Mustang plant in Michigan, UAW says
Ford is planning to launch production of respirators next week at the idled Detroit-area plant where it builds the Mustang and Lincoln Continental as part of its previously announced plans to join the battle against the coronavirus pandemic by partnering with two other companies.
According to reports, Ford will build the respirators at a building on its Flat Rock Assembly campus using paid UAW volunteers in three shifts starting the week of April 6. Ford last week announced it was partnering with 3M to make respirators and GE Healthcare to build ventilators to help health care providers and others on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak. On Monday, the automaker announced it would begin building ventilators using a design licensed from a Florida company at its Rawsonville components plant in Michigan using paid UAW volunteers, with the goal of building 50,000 units within 100 days.
Ford isn’t confirming its plans, which were divulged Tuesday by the UAW Local 600 on Facebook in a post that appears to have since been removed, but the operation is apparently moving at rush speed. Also unclear is how many workers are needed. “FRAP members will be receiving a robot call around 5pm this evening asking for volunteers to work while the plant is down and have 24 hrs to respond,” the post read, per the Detroit Free Press. “This will be a 3-crew operation.”
In its original announcement, Ford said it was working with 3M to increase production capacity of its powered air-purifying respirator and working on a new design for a waist-mounted, battery-powered blower that sends filtered air into a hood that provides respiratory protection. The latter design uses off-the-shelf parts, including a fan normally used to heat and cool seats in the F-150 truck and 3M air filters, portable-tool battery packs, hoods from assembly-plant paint shops and, according to Automotive News, 3D-printed parts and subassemblies from its advanced manufacturing center. Ford had said it could initially make up to 1,000 respirators per month and help 3M increase production tenfold.
“This is a call to action for a cause that transcends everyday comforts,” according to a transcript of a robocall going out to union members. “It is an opportunity to make a bad situation better and help our medial professionals, first responders and all affected by COVID-19.”
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