Stratasys Coalition for Face Shield Production With 3D Printing Now Numbers Over 150 Organizations Responding to Pandemic

A coalition of companies and universities assembled by Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) to produce face shields leveraging 3D printers now numbers more than 150, the company said. Among others, the list includes Boeing, Toyota Motor Company, Medtronic, Dunwoody College of Technology, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Minnesota.

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A tray of face shield visors being 3D printed by Stratasys. Thousands are now being produced by Stratasys or its coalition partners. (Photo: Business Wire)

Last week, in an effort to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, Stratasys set an initial goal to produce 5,000 face shields at no cost to recipients through its own and partner resources by today, March. 27. This includes both a 3D-printed visor and a clear plastic shield that covers the entire face. Stratasys said that number will be exceeded by the end of today and the coalition should be able to produce more than 11,000 face shields next week, and 16,000 or more during the following week.

Any 3D printing shop that wishes to help print at least 100 visors can fill out an online form to be invited to join the effort. For the U.S., Stratasys is using its GrabCAD Shop work order management software to assign orders from healthcare systems to each coalition member. In Europe, the company is serving as a hub to connect service bureaus with those requesting help, and has fielded offers and requests in most of the larger countries. The company also has posted the full face shield printing and assembly instructions for anyone to produce face shields on their own.

So far, the coalition is serving the needs of more than 30 different health systems, covering hospitals, clinics, academic medical centers, and nursing homes. The first shipments started on Wednesday, Mar. 25. Stratasys has received requests for 350,000 face shields, so further acceleration in production across coalition members is critical.

“I have never seen collaboration across our industry the way I’ve been seeing it over the last couple weeks,” said Stratasys Healthcare Segment Leader, Scott Drikakis, who is directing the company’s COVID-19 response in the Americas. “The need is dire, but we are getting the kind of commitments from our coalition partners that will make a real difference and help buy time to scale up the manufacturing of shields and other essential supplies. This rapid, adaptive response is what 3D printing does exceptionally well, and I’m very proud of our employees and partners.”