Stratasys gears up face shield production for Covid-19

The PPE equipment for medical personnel consists of a 3D printed plastic frame and a clear plastic shield that guards the entire face of the wearer, under which particulate face masks are usually worn for additional protection. One leading hospital informed Stratasys that it uses more than 1,500 of the face shields over the course of a regular week. The Covid-19 outbreak had reduced the hospital to just six days’ inventory of the equipment.

The company will use its Stratasys Direct Manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, Texas and California to ramp up the face shield production, as well as 3D printing facilities at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Queensborough Community College in New York City, and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.

Full production and assembly instructions for the face shield will also be posted on Stratasys’ Covid-19 response page. Any 3D printing facility in the US that wishes to help print the plastic frames can fill out an online form to be invited to join the effort, and Stratasys expects it will be able to continue to increase the overall scale of production.