Enabling Burst Capacity for Healthcare Companies During Coronavirus Response

One of the most pressing shortages facing hospitals during the COVID-19 emergency is a lack of ventilators. Scaling up production is more complex than it seems. The ATS team works hard to fill the gaps in the medical ventilator manufacturers’ supply chain by rapidly deploying the required ventilator testing systems.

Two different manufacturers of ventilators both needed to immediately increase their production capacity by multiple folds. The ability to complete functional and final reliability (burn-in) testing was proving to be a challenge. These tests are needed on every ventilator produced and are typically carried out with test stands. With an increase in production, an increased number of test stands was required.

ATS Automation provides build-to-print and contract manufacturing services to many medical device manufacturers and has experience helping clients quickly scale up. For this unique challenge, ATS quickly aligned internal resources in sourcing, engineering, and manufacturing to rapidly respond to these critical, build-to-print needs. The two clients had very different technical (mechanical, pneumatic, electrical, control) specifications and build requirements for their test stands, but both had in common the need for immediate delivery. These two projects required a response plan and organizational flexibility that could be considered unprecedented in a contract manufacturing environment.