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Previously, AutoLab wrote an article reporting that, across the line, car companies in the United States have switched to producing respirators to fight the new crown pneumonia with difficulty. I didn't realize that nowadays there are car companies that can't even handle the simplest masks, and this car company is no one else but Toyota, one of the dominant players in the global auto industry.
In light of the fact that the U.S. has been hardest hit by the new coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, Toyota North America, headquartered in Plano, Texas, has also begun its own emergency relief operations to provide more support to local U.S. organizations and nonprofits.
In addition to financial and in-kind donations, Toyota North America has also begun to mobilize resources to manufacture protective masks, and has partnered with medical device companies to accelerate the manufacture of production line ventilation systems, medical ventilators, and other critical equipment.
The biggest problem, however, is that Toyota North America has not established any industrial chain information base or procurement system related to medical device production, so Toyota North America has had to publicize an email address "ToyotaMPICsupport@toyota.com" to deal with any "medical device companies and their suppliers. Any "medical device companies and related businesses" seeking advice on "manufacturing, engineering, supply chain and procurement".
In general, it would take months for a company to set up a complete procurement and manufacturing system for a new field, and it would be difficult to do so quickly at this particular stage of the epidemic, when many U.S. companies are already working at irregular hours.
Of course, Toyota North America is not doing nothing. Toyota North America has already produced a number of protective masks using 3D printing, and according to Toyota officials, this batch of protective masks will begin "mass production" next week.
But it's not clear whether they'll be assembly-line or 3D printed. After all, 3D-printed production - even of just the black headgear parts - would be much more expensive and less productive.
Looking at the picture, it appears that the protective masks produced by Toyota North America must be used in conjunction with protective suits to ensure an isolation seal. From this point of view, the mask must be for epidemic prevention and medical staff manufacturing, ordinary people are not blessed to enjoy.
This speculation was also confirmed by Toyota North America. Toyota officials said the first batch of the masks will be supplied to Anderson Hospital in Houston, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and other hospitals in Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.
In addition, Toyota North America currently has agreements with at least two companies to collaborate on the production of respirators and medical masks, although Toyota North America acknowledged that it does not have the capacity to produce medical masks in the short term.
Because for medical masks, the most important thing is to be able to block droplets of medical non-woven fabric, and this medical non-woven fabric suppliers, North America Toyota has not found ...... This is like a chef stove and pots and pans are ready, the results of where the rice is still do not know.
See here, there may be netizens ask, China Wuling, BYD, Guangzhou Automobile Chuanqi such as car companies in the outbreak of the epidemic, are able to switch to the production of medical masks to do a quick response, for why the North American Toyota but can not do this?
Actually, it's not hard to explain. China's fight against the epidemic is a national one, and the government will coordinate all available resources to ensure the production of medical supplies.
In the process of producing medical masks, SAIC Wuling and BYD basically won't be anxious about the supply of raw materials for production.
And Toyota North America's resistance to the epidemic is typical of corporate resistance.
Texas is a tough state, and has always been at odds with the U.S. federal government, and even once had an independence issue because of federal taxes. To this day, many Texans think of "breaking away from the United States.
The U.S. federal government would be hard-pressed to replicate China's national response to the epidemic, even if it wanted to do so. All the supply chain issues would need to be taken care of by the companies themselves.
Even if the state government could help, it would have limited power -- imagine if a supplier wasn't located in Texas, it wouldn't be up to the state.
So that's the gap, and that's why Toyota North America can't get its mouthpiece production right.
This article comes from the authors of the Motorhome Car Family, and does not represent the views of the Motorhome Car Family position.