Metro Mold & Design (MMD), Rogers, Minnesota, joins the fight against COVID-19 by molding components for disposable face shields, helping to quickly build the country’s supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Joining the Stratasys coalition, MMD has successfully adapted Stratasys’ 3D-printed visor frame for injection molding to accelerate the ability to meet the PPE requirements needed to begin reopening America.
To protect frontline workers, Stratasys launched a 150-company coalition to digitally print face shields. Each unit consists of a visor frame and a plastic protective shield that are packaged with elastic bands and distributed to hospitals and healthcare facilities. But high demand pushed Stratasys to find an injection molding partner that could scale production.
Receiving an order for 100,000 components, MMD engineers moved fast to re-engineer a tool that could efficiently and effectively produce 20,000 visor frames per week. The goal: to build the tool and move it into production in just nine days, dramatically shrinking what was a six-to-eight-week process.
MMD partnered with Maple Grove, Minnesota-based Tooling Science to build the tool in days, not weeks. This allowed MMD to launch production less than 10 days after receiving the initial request.
“PPE supply is one of the gaps states have to close to safely reopen their communities. We were privileged to join Stratasys’ efforts,” said Lampron. “This is real American ingenuity at work, with companies coming together with a common goal of beating the virus and getting America back to work.”
For more information, visit www.metromold.com or www.stratasys.com.