Engineering and defence giant Babcock International Group is to make 10,000 ventilators for the NHS to use during the coronavirus crisis.
The firm, which operates major dockyards in Plymouth and Rosyth, said it responded quickly to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Ventilator Challenge and has now been awarded a contract by the Cabinet Office to manufacture 10,000 Zephyr Plus ventilators, subject to regulatory approvals.
The product is being developed in collaboration with an established major international supplier of critical care ventilators.
As well as working on a new prototype, a team of Babcock engineers and specialists have set up a supply chain solution from scratch, the company said.
The team has set up the supply chain, and enlisted a number of 海角视频 manufacturers to help with the assembly and production.
Babcock is partnering with a leading medical equipment company in the production of the Zephyr Plus ventilators, which will use tried and tested medical components.
Jon Hall, managing director of technology for Babcock, said team effort, strong partnerships and ingenuity were all key factors in getting the project off the ground.
“The team is working flat out to get the first of the Zephyr Plus ventilators off the production lines as a matter of urgency.
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“We are designing, testing and manufacturing a brand new product but we are also designing and managing the entire supply chain to support its delivery from scratch.
“To do both in parallel demonstrates the commitment and innovation of everyone involved. It also highlights the incredible support Babcock has had from the suppliers with whom we are collaborating.
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“I’m really proud of what we have done, and what we are achieving in the race against time to help deliver critical equipment to the NHS.”
Babcock’s expertise in Design for Manufacture (DfM), is one of the key elements, driving efficiencies in time and resource to enable the ventilators to be produced at scale and quickly.
The team is also working directly with suppliers on capacity and capability matters.
To enhance the resilience of the supply chain solution, the Babcock team devised multiple assembly streams, which can respond at speed and with flexibility using suppliers from the across the 海角视频.
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Babcock’s Zephyr Plus suppliers include:
Amtek-Precision: tooling design
Armstrong Medical: medical consumables
Astute Electronics: supply of electrical components
Future Advanced Manufacture: key component manufacture
Kinneir Dufort: housing design and regulatory support
Kohler Mira Ltd: housing design, assembly and testing line
MEC Medical: medical consumables
PDD: housing design
Plexus: design support and electronic assembly
Raytheon 海角视频: assembly and testing line
Sovrin: key component manufacture
TT Electronics: assembly and testing line
The list is not exhaustive and Babcock said it is deeply grateful to all those that continue to support the team with a wide range of components and services.