Siemens steps up to support VentilatorChallengeUK

Siemens UK and Siemens Healthineers have joined a consortium of businesses from the automotive, aerospace and technology sectors to manufacture ventilators for the NHS.

The company, which has a strong presence in the North East, is working on the VentilatorChallengeUK project, which aims to harness the capabilities of British manufacturing to build up supplies of the life-saving piece of medical equipment.

Siemens is providing expert assistance to the consortium in medical device manufacture under the standards to MHRA guidelines, mainly through the team at Siemens Healthineers facility in Sudbury.

This is being carried out in addition to fulfilling existing demand for blood gas analyser products, which are also a crucial part of the fight against COVID-19.

Brian Holliday, UK managing director of Siemens Digital Industries, said: “Siemens Healthineers has vital expertise in manufacturing medical devices in the UK and Siemens Digital Industries has expertise in making manufacturing processes more efficient and highly productive.

“Together these parts of the company are combining their efforts to contribute to the ventilator challenge.

“We are so motivated to work together with other companies to help the NHS as every ventilator made can save a life.”

Siemens Healthineers is advising the consortium on post assembly testing to ensure strict regulation requirements are factored in from the start and that vital time is not lost in the highly accelerated production process.

Siemens Industry Software has also enabled the consortium to rapidly distribute bills of materials, work aids and to design, simulate and test the scaled-up manufacturing locations.

The company will deploy expertise from all of its sites across the UK to support the national effort against coronavirus.

Mr Holliday added: “Our manufacturing expertise from Siemens Digital Industries in Congleton is helping to accelerate the design of a new factory layout for one of the sub-assemblies of the Penlon ventilator.

“There is also further potential for Siemens to help through our Additive Manufacturing Network to 3D print metal parts through Siemens Materials Solutions in Worcester where we have a number of printing machines that use the laser powderbed fusion process.”