COVID-19: Michelin To Produce 4 Lakh Surgical Mask Weekly

Michelin has also started making sterilisable polycarbonate visors for health workers

To fight the global battle against COVID-19 pandemic, Michelin has announced that it has begun production of face mask at several of its facilities. The tyre maker is also active in other projects involving ventilators, medical device components, patient-positioning cushions, and hand sanitiser.

Following the initialisation phase now underway, Michelin will produce some 400,000 category 1 surgical masks weekly, either in its workshops or in collaboration with partners or subcontractors.

Ten sites in Europe have already been selected, including La Combaude in Clermont-Ferrand (France), Olsztyn (Poland) and Zalău (Romania). European capacity will be extended in the coming weeks thanks to the deployment of similar initiatives in North America, said Michelin in a release.

Michelin has also joined hands with other companies for the design and large-scale rollout of a reusable mask. The OCOV FMP1 or FMP2 mask, entirely developed and manufactured in France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in record time, is affordable and sustainable. It can be produced in large quantities and reused up to 100 times thanks to five washable, interchangeable filters.

Production of a prototype batch of 5,000 units is underway. The goal is to produce one million masks per week by May, leading to a total production of more than five million masks by end-June – the equivalent of 500 million single-use masks, the tyre maker added.

Besides that, Michelin has also started making sterilisable polycarbonate visors for health workers. The Group says it will have made about 10,000 visors by next week.

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