Prevex Finland has adapted its injection moulding technology to help fight covid-19

Production of frames for medical face shields is up and running

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in many countries around the world has led to a situation where hospitals are experiencing a shortage of certain types of personal protective equipment (PPE). When the Material Coordinator at Vaasa Hospital District in Finland understood that soon there wouldn’t be any medical face shields left (i.e. for coronavirus testing), he contacted a local company to find out if there was a chance local manufacturers could help.

Fast response to a help request

Prevex was first contacted about the matter at the end of last week, when Deputy CEO Torbjörn Nyholm from Orapac, the company manufacturing the shield part of the protective equipment and delivering the final product, asked Prevex’s Sales Director Peter Engstrand for help. He explained that there was an immediate need for a rapid increase in the production capacity of frames. Prevex was ready to act at once. As a result, the whole process from Orapac’s request for help to Prevex reprogramming its injection moulding machinery and running a successful test run was less than a week.

According to Torbjörn Nyholm, Orapac was unaware of just how critical the need for medical face shields was at the beginning.
“When we learnt what the real situation was, it became clear that we needed to cooperate with an operator who has injection moulding machines and the capacity to rapidly increase their production.”

Prevex’s know-how and ability to quickly adapt to a changing situation allowed the company to support the Finnish healthcare service in this current crisis.
“It feels good to know that we are able to use our machinery for an application outside of our own field and we can be useful in the prevailing crisis. I’m also impressed that our organisation was able to react and meet demand as rapidly as we did,” says Peter Engstrand.

Prevex will soon increase its capacity again

According to Orapac, all three companies involved in the production of medical face shields (including CNC Design who manufacture smaller earpieces components) are vital when it comes to meeting the demand from the Finnish hospitals. In the middle of April, Prevex will start using a new mould that will further increase production capacity.

Vital know-how in one region

Material coordinator and nurse Stefan Vehkoja from Vaasa Central Hospital is impressed and touched by the potential the region has shown to the crisis. The companies involved have succeeded in adapting their own production to meet demand when it really matters. “At the moment, there is a great need for medical face shields in Finland, but there is also a substantial market outside Finland’s borders as well”, says Vehkoja.

Marko Nylund, the CEO of Prevex, is also pleased with how well everything worked out: “It was fortunate that the prevailing situation allowed us to directly start producing frames and help in that way.

More information:
CEO Marko Nylund, Prevex Oy, tel. 040 027 6739, marko.nylund@prevex.com
Sales Director Peter Engstrand, Prevex Oy, tel. 044 972 7811, peter.engstrand@prevex.com