NQO&V EAM fBeEaRt u 2r0e1 9
Q&A:
Rising to the
challenge
One of the few positive stories
to emerge from the current
crisis is the way in which
engineering organisations of
varying sizes and from a host
of diff erent sectors have come
together to design, develop and produce
key items of medical equipment for
the NHS. The Engineer asked three of
those companies at the forefront of this
historic national eff ort - Jaguar Land
Rover, Renishaw and Protolabs - about
what they’ve achieved, the challenges
they have faced, and the lessons that
they have learned.
Meet the experts
Ben Wilson – Additive Manufacturing
and Prototype Design Manager, Jaguar
Land Rover
Marc Saunders – Director of Group
Strategic Development, Renishaw
and Executive Team Member at
VentilatorChallengeUK
Lee Ball – General Manager, Protolabs
What role has your organization been
playing in the engineering response to
the Covid-19 crisis?
BW: In April, Jaguar Land Rover began
Companies from across the UK
manufacturing spectrum discuss
the role that they have played in the
engineering response to the COVID-19
crisis.
jon excell reports
producing reusable, NHS-approved
3D-printed protective visors for key
workers, utilising our Computer Aided
Design (CAD) and 3D printing expertise
to help provide vital equipment. This
was in response to a national shortage
of Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) for NHS frontline staff in the fi ght
against Covid-19. Many key workers
were suff ering injury from wearing
uncomfortable equipment for long
hours or going without vital protective
wear. The face visors we created
are designed to be reusable, easily
dismantled and cleaned before being
used again and will help to safeguard
the NHS Trusts against future
shortages.
We are now scaling up production
which has enabled us to go from
producing around 2,000 visors a week to
14,000 per week.
MS: Renishaw responded to the UK
Government’s challenge to rapidly
supply medical ventilators to the
NHS. We judged that our best
contribution would be to help existing
device manufacturers to ramp up
their production and soon realised
that many other companies were
June 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk 22
Ben Wilson
Jaguar Land Rover
Marc Saunders
Renishaw
Lee Ball
Protolabs
Image credit: Jaguar Land Rover
thinking the same way. We formed
the VentilatorChallengeUK (VCUK)
consortium with leading aerospace,
automotive, medical devices and
motorsport companies, and have
worked together to super-scale
production of a critical care ventilator
designed by Penlon, and a mobile
ventilator designed by Smiths Medical.
Within this context, Renishaw has
focused on mass production of metallic
components for both devices in our
factories in Gloucestershire and South
Wales. Over the last month, Renishaw
has manufactured 115,000 precision
machined ventilator components,
deploying 30 automated CNC machine
tools. In doing so, we have consumed
more than 5 km of metal bar stock – the
length of 50 football pitches – weighing
around 25 tonnes – the weight of fi ve
African elephants.
LB: Protolabs has played a key role in
the engineering response to support the
frontline fi ght against Covid-19.
Giving customers ‘speed to market’
at this challenging time is absolutely
critical and our outstanding team of
designers, engineers and production
specialists have risen to the task, going
/www.theengineer.co.uk