GM-Ventec to deliver ventilators for fight against pandemic

MANILA: General Motors Co. (GM) began with the mass production of 30,000 Ventec Life Systems V+Pro critical care ventilators under a contract with the US Department of Health and Human Services, which was released last April 8.

According to GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra, several men and women at Ventec, GM, their suppliers, and the Kokomo community in Indiana have expressed their support for the health personnel and medical frontliners amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She said that everybody wants to participate in saving lives; that it is inspiring to see the dedication and passion of several people for this initiative.

White House Assistant to the President Peter Navarro said that GM has rapidly progressed during this time to produce one of the most significant lifesaving equipment in the war against COVID-19.

GM is an international company dedicated to the delivery of sustainable, better, and safer strategies for people to live conveniently. GM, along with its joint-venture entities and subsidiaries, handles the sales of vehicles under numerous brands, namely, Wuling, Baojun, Holden, Cadillac, GMC, Buick, and Chevrolet.

GM, in terms of the rapid mobilization of its manufacturing sector, boasts of the creativity of its engineers and the determination of its employees. They also want to honor the efforts of the medical frontliners and health professionals worldwide for attempting to save numerous lives amid this pandemic. This is the foremost reason why critical care ventilators will be rolled out from the GM assembly and will be immediately delivered to numerous hospitals.

More than 600 Ventec ventilators will be delivered this month, and about half of the order will be filled by the last week of June. The full order is expected to be completed by the last week of August. Moreover, GM can produce more ventilators after August, if necessary.

Ventec Life Systems, the main supplier of GM for the ventilators, continues to uplift respiratory care for the improvement of patient outcomes and the reduction of caregiver challenges from hospitals to the homes of patients. The top product of Ventec, the VOCSN, is regarded as the pioneer Multi-Function Ventilator that impeccably incorporates five types of devices. These are the high-performance nebulizer, hospital-grade suction, touch button cough assist, an oxygen concentrator, and a critical care ventilator. The integration of these five devices will generate a mobile and lightweight system to aid in respiratory functions. VOCSN is tailored to meet the needs of adult and pediatric patients.

In less than a month, Ventec, along with the talent acquisition, supply chain, legal, logistics, and manufacturing teams of GM, was able to organize reinforcement for the delivery of a 30,000-unit order from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

According to Ventec Life Systems CEO Chris Kiple, critical care ventilators will provide medical frontliners the necessary tools and equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and save more lives, until the development of a vaccine. The collaboration of GM with Ventec is a legitimate effort and an excellent reminder of what can be attained through the integration of manufacturing skills and innovation towards one mission to save numerous lives worldwide.

This initiative included the purchase of numerous components and accessories from manufacturers, the introduction of a new production process, the relocation of the Kokomo factory of GM, the continuous recruitment of more than 1,000 production team members, and the development of comprehensive safety and health procedures in the workplace.

Throughout this initiative, GM gained strong support from the United Auto Workers (UAW), which includes the UAW Local 292 and the UAW-GM Department and the community groups in Kokomo, Indiana.  

Executives from GM and Ventec conducted their first conference calls on March 17 and March 18 to discover how GM can assist Ventec in increasing the production of ventilators. Last March 20, GM involved its international supply base, and within three days, they were able to establish plans to source the needed components for the production of ventilators.

The local and national leadership of UAW accepted the project, and the staff prepared the Kokomo facility for production on March 25.

GM and Ventec are both dedicated to delivering the latest progress updates, videos, and photos for the documentation of the work of this collaboration in a new website, www.VentecGM.com.

Also read: GM to make ventilators in lieu of cars to help Coronavirus (COVID-19) victims