The face shields are a nice example of the circular economy, where you see that working together, you can achieve more. This way, we are competitive but also busy with protecting the people in the Netherlands, Europe and the entire world. At the moment, face shields are being delivered to hospitals, health authorities, testing facilities, dentists and private customers.
Chance, Development & production
During the press conference in March, where a lack of face masks was reported, Robert Brekelmans (Owner PIANT) started thinking. “We had to do something about this. The medical facemasks had too demanding production requirements. Anyone could make the regular variants. So, we came up with the idea to produce a different type of protective equipment: the face shield. Coincidentally, the RadboudUMC approached us at the same time to join in on the development of a plastic screen that medical professionals in an operation room could use. China could not supply, and there was a high urgency.”
Cheaper than China
No sooner said, no later done. Patrick van Oosterhout focused on the CE-marking. A blueprint was developed, the first prototype produced. The headband with sheet plastic was a fact. “Partly because we were able to show a prototype very quickly and were ready to produce immediately, we got the order. From that moment on, around 100.000 pieces came out of production every week. At its peak, this number was easily doubled as dentists and other medical professionals started ordering the product too. The nice thing is that we were able to supply more quickly and more flexible than China. We have the technology in-house. With the way we currently work, we can readily compete with “low-wage countries”.
