Foxconn, Medtronic to begin making ventilators over next year
The Foxconn Technology Group plans to begin manufacturing 10,000 ventilators for Medtronic in Mount Pleasant over the next year.
Medtronic announced in April that it planned to work with Foxconn to make the ventilators.
In a joint statement with Medtronic, Foxconn “completed Medtronic’s regulatory and quality requirements necessary to begin manufacturing Medtronic Puritan Bennett 560 (PB 560) ventilators for Medtronic in the United States.”
The coronavirus pandemic has put an increased focus on the need for ventilators.
The two companies can increase ventilator supply more than any one company alone, said Vafa Jamali, a Medtronic senior vice president and president of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and informatics business.
Medtronic is a medical technology company based in Ireland with operational and executive headquarters in Minnesota.
“No single company can meet the current demands for ventilators that are critical in the fight against COVID-19,” Jamali said in a statement. “Joining together with Foxconn immediately increases our production capacity to meet the increased demand and creates a flexible manufacturing model for us.”
The Foxconn facility in Mount Pleasant was meant to create large screens for electronic equipment, but that has since been scaled down to screens used in tablets and smart phones.
Foxconn hasn’t manufactured any screens at the facility but has made about 100,000 masks which were donated to area hospitals to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus
Foxconn has not made any announcements for other products being manufactured at the facility.
John Jordan, director of external communications with Medtronic, said the company expects the initial ventilators to be completed in the next few weeks and these ventilators plan to be “shipped through global aid programs to countries with the greatest need.”
Jordan added for Foxconn to meet the requirements the company need to demonstrate “good manufacturing practices and have quality management system in place that is traceable and auditable.” Foo-Ming Fu, CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet Wisconsin, a subsidiary of Foxconn, said during the last two months the company went from “zero ventilator manufacturing capabilities to a tested, qualified ventilator manufacturing cell.”
“Foxconn is grateful to all frontline professionals who tirelessly work to serve others and is proud to partner with Medtronic to address this global pandemic,” Fu said in a statement. “Foxconn’s manufacturing capabilities can bring to market life-saving medical equipment during these challenging times.”
Because the ventilators are being made by the Foxconn Industrial Internet business, it’s likely these products will not count toward state tax credits, unless the agreement is amended.
The companies announced their partnership in early April after Medtronic shared the design specifications of the ventilator through their open source initiative.
If there is an increased global demand, Medtronic and Foxconn say they can double the current Foxconn ventilator commitment.