Scoresby
Trakanon Raider
- 791
- 1,467
So a few days ago I was sent up to a furniture manufacturer in Austin as our plant manager had wind there was a furniture company trying to convert their manufacturing into N95 masks (the material they use in lining is the same as that in masks). Turns out there is a heavy demand for not just masks but also disposable gowns. There was clearly a big opportunity as my company does high-volume manufacturing, whereas these guys typically make customizable furniture which, by nature, is high-mix doesn't lend itself to high-volume. So far we've been able to ramp output up around 2000% from where they were and are being gated by their CNC that cuts the patterns. Looks like we'll be in good shape to support everything from Austin-San Antonio for the near-future. I think the discussion now is to figure out how to take what we've learned here and spread it around (I know the guys at MyPillow were doing something similar). Alternatively, we are kicking around building a CNC in-house and doing some of this ourselves (comparing to typical millwork this is a simple machine).
We are also working with the major automakers to develop ventillators although personally I feel the strategy they are using will be too slow. It looks like the big players are trying to leverage their suppliers to build pieces, then they will build the ventilators (sourcing an existing design through NDA). In this event, our plant would build part A, someone else part B, etc. It ends up creating a long-chain where you have to address parts that don't have a clear build path. While this is do-able (3D printing for instance would be fine in many cases as the mechanical requirements aren't uber critical), it does add delay to the overall process. Granted, once you figure it out you have this well oiled machine that can crank out high-volume like nobody's business. My point is, the complexity of a ventilator isn't that high and I'd rather just design an opensource variant and let everyone build it. There is some slack in our current project lineup (for some reason?) so I may have to get a few of my guys working this.
We are also working with the major automakers to develop ventillators although personally I feel the strategy they are using will be too slow. It looks like the big players are trying to leverage their suppliers to build pieces, then they will build the ventilators (sourcing an existing design through NDA). In this event, our plant would build part A, someone else part B, etc. It ends up creating a long-chain where you have to address parts that don't have a clear build path. While this is do-able (3D printing for instance would be fine in many cases as the mechanical requirements aren't uber critical), it does add delay to the overall process. Granted, once you figure it out you have this well oiled machine that can crank out high-volume like nobody's business. My point is, the complexity of a ventilator isn't that high and I'd rather just design an opensource variant and let everyone build it. There is some slack in our current project lineup (for some reason?) so I may have to get a few of my guys working this.
- 7
- 1
