Medtronic plc and Foxconn Industrial Internet on Thursday announced a plan to make 10,000 ventilators at Foxconn’s Mount Pleasant Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park. The two companies said earlier this year that they were working to partner on ventilator production amid increased demand during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Medtronic publicly shared design specifications for
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A Medtronic ventilator being assembled.[/caption]
“No single company can meet the current demands for ventilators that are critical in the fight against COVID-19. Joining together with Foxconn immediately increases our production capacity to meet the increased demand and creates a flexible manufacturing model for us,” said Vafa Jamali, senior vice president and president of the Respiratory, Gastrointestinal and Informatics business at Medtronic.
Foo-Ming Fu, chief executive officer of Foxconn Industrial Internet Wisconsin, said the company went from zero ventilator capacity to a tested and qualified manufacturing cell in two months.
“Foxconn’s flexibility to quickly react to global markets makes opportunities with partners like this possible,” Fu said.
Specifically, Foxconn will be making Medtronic’s Puritan Bennett 560 or PB560, the model the company shared plans for publicly. It was first introduced in 2010 and can be used in clinical and at home settings.
Medtronic will market and sell the devices Foxconn makes.
The companies also said Foxconn has the ability to increase production capacity to double its current level if needed.