General Motors to make masks
DETROIT: General Motors ( GM) will make face masks for the frontline workers. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country, it created a critical shortage of face masks. To help protect workers in essential services across the country, GM has launched a rapid-response project to produce masks at scale on Friday, March 20. Seven days later, the team had produced their first sample on the new production line.
GM expects to deliver its first 20,000 masks to frontline workers on April 8. Without help from GM’S partners around the globe, the project would have taken several months to plan and execute. The team working on GM’S face-mask project accomplished the task in just one week.
“Our team began looking at ways we could quickly utilise our talents and resources to help in the shared fight against COVID-19,” said Peter Thom, GM vice president, Global Manufacturing Engineering. “Working around the clock, our team rallied with incredible passion and focus to come up with a plan to produce masks that will help protect the women and men on the front lines of this crisis.”
On March 20, the core team assembled for the first time, kicking off the project and starting the timer.
“Because we wanted to move fast, the team set an incredibly aggressive goal: To have the production line up and running tests within a week,” said Thom. More than 30 engineers, designers, buyers and members of the manufacturing team were asked to help with product development, sourcing materials and equipment, and planning the production process.
“The first people we called were those who work with fabric vehicle components,” said Karsten Garbe, GM plant director, Global Pre-production Operations. “In a few days, the company’s seat belt and interior trim experts became experts in manufacturing face masks.”