Denel to lead in rush to produce new ventilators
SA companies are ramping up efforts to design and produce medical ventilators, which some Covid-19 patients will need to remain alive.
State-owned arms manufacturer Denel said on Sunday it is mobilising its resources and expertise towards a priority project for the local design and development of ventilators in support of the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The virus has created a surge in the need for more ventilators. Some companies, including Dyson and Ford Motor Company, have stepped up to meet the growing demand.
Last week, National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam) executive director Renai Moothilal told Engineering News that if things go according to plan, full-scale production of the Penlon Nuffield 200 ventilator, a time-cycled ventilator driven by air pressure, can be up and running within a month.
“What we know as a ventilator is an assembly of many subcomponents, and because none of the companies [vehicle assembly and component production firms] do ventilator production as a ‘day job’, a modular manufacturing process will be utilised, with several companies manufacturing components and undertaking sub-assembly, with the final ventilator assembled at a central location,” Moothilal told the publication.
SA reportedly has 4,000 ventilators in the private sector and 2,000 in public hospitals.
Danie du Toit, the group CEO of Denel, said the company’s engineers are already working around the clock on the ventilator production project, dubbed Project Sabela —“we are heeding the call” — in partnership with other state-owned entities, research bodies and medical technology companies.
“We are still in the early stages of the project, but we are optimistic that this local initiative will help to alleviate the dire need for medical ventilators.”
The defence and technology company is also considering other initiatives in which it can repurpose its operations and technology to assist the national effort. This includes the production of sanitisers and the conversion of Casspir mine-protected vehicles to ambulances.
If the projects are a success, it could help ease Denel’s financial pressure. Denel is one of the many parastatals struggling to recover from the effects of state capture and has recorded massive losses in recent years.
In the past financial year it posted a loss of close to R2bn, with revenue dropping 36%. In 2017/2018 it suffered a net loss of R1.8bn on a 38% decline in revenue to R5bn.