The world stands still as COVID-19 continues to turn it upside down. No more social contact. No more ‘business as usual.’ In fact, no more ‘normal’ for many. Now, we stay home to save lives.
But there are some brave souls who cannot stop like doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. And, hidden in the background we find manufacturers, machine builders and their suppliers. These are the people responsible for producing food, life-saving medicines, masks and wipes.
It is unquestionable that in times like these we must move together to ensure production of the products that are so urgently needed. And not only that, but we must do it as quickly as possible to avoid interrupting mass production and serve the greater good.
Societally, we have now experienced a lack of ventilator masks, cleaning and disinfecting products, toilet paper, and sadly, medical devices. But, how do we quickly change from beer or spirits to hand sanitizer? How do we adapt newly developed medical device designs for our current machine lines? How do we answer the difficult question of which medication production to prioritize? Which machine line to change? Obviously, there is high demand to manufacture products to combat the current pandemic, but at the same time other life-saving medication demands do not stop. Therefore, how do we adapt to the increase in demand for certain products, while overcoming challenges, like not having the physical infrastructure to allow production growth?
