Manufacturer Database

As the COVID-19 pandemic surges on, people on the frontlines face an increasing shortage of protective and medical equipment. The explosion of COVID cases and disruption in the global supply chain has created an equipment crisis that endangers essential workers, COVID patients, and the general public.

Hospital staff, caregivers, and other essential workers are asked to put their lives on the line to save others – without the personal protective equipment necessary to mitigate their own risk. These workers lack equipment such as face masks, face shields, and gloves. Medical centers also have a limited supply of Coronavirus testing kits and ventilator parts. 

To combat the need, manufacturers are offering their services to produce life-saving equipment. 3D printing and laser cutting have proven to be particularly useful in speeding up the production process.

Unlike other forms of manufacturing, which take days or weeks, these processes drastically reduce the time needed to produce equipment. Manufacturers can go from design to prototype to production within a matter of hours. For example, in the past two months, Hewlett Packard has already manufactured and distributed thousands of face masks, face shields, respirator parts, testing swabs, and ventilator parts across the United States and Europe.

While many manufacturers have volunteered, organizing and mobilizing these volunteers has been a logistical challenge.

Helpful Engineering, created to combat Coronavirus, is an example of volunteers meeting this challenge. The organization includes numerous volunteers, ranging from designers to builders to manufacturers. However, information about volunteers has been fragmented, stored in multiple spreadsheets and databases. This fragmentation has made it a challenge to take action and start production.