April 3, 2020 - Answering the country’s need for more supplies of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for the frontline workers, the Department of Science and Technology – Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) now mass produces medical face shields.
Our 3D-printed face shields, already distributed to our modern-day heroes, are presently helping our frontliners fight Covid-19. Now, we transitioned to plastic injection technology that allows us to increase production volume – up to 2,500 pieces of face shield frames per day!
The plastic injection mold was fabricated at the Die and Mold Solution Center, a facility within the DOST-MIRDC compound in Bicutan, Taguig City. Mass production of the face shield frames is also being done in the said facility.
The plastic injection mold for the face shield frame fabricated at the Die and Mold Solution Center (DMSC) inside the DOST-MIRDC Compound in Bicutan, Taguig City.
The plastic injection machine is housed inside the Die and Mold Solution Center (DMSC) in the DOST-MIRDC Compund in Bicutan, Taguig (left); Team MIRDC engineers and technicians carry out mass production of the face shield frames (right).
Partner organizations have donated raw materials. The TTMO and the Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines donated 6,000 pieces and 23 rolls of acetates, respectively. Our other donors are Manly Plastics, Inc., Prima Plastics, and UP Visayas (in cooperation with Frabelle Fishing Corporation, Inc. and Philippine Fishing Gear Industries, Inc.), who donated 300kg, 1200kg, and 1000kg of polypropylene (PP), respectively.
We have other technology partners joining us in this cause: Omnifab, who fabricated another injection mold; and the Megasamsotite Plant in San Pedro, Laguna, which is another site for mass production of the face shield frames. They can also produce up to 2,500 face shield frames daily.
We have lost quite a good number of our doctors and health care professionals already. One of the challenges we face is the lack of PPEs such as the medical face shield. With confidence, we can now overcome this challenge. ‘With the mass production of the medical face shields being done simultaneously in Laguna and in Taguig, we can assure the enhanced protection of our frontliners,’ says Engr. Fred P. Liza, Chief of the Materials and Process Research Division, and Project Leader of the DOST-MIRDC’s Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMCen).
We are calling on organizations, both from the public and the private sectors, for donations of raw materials. With 1 ton of polypropylene, we can produce 25,000 face shield frames. Our collective efforts will help save the lives of our brave and selfless frontliners.
The DOST-MIRDC will package and distribute the face shields to various hospitals beginning Monday, April 6, 2020. For inquiries about the medical face shields, message us on facebook (DOST-MIRDC), or e-mail us (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
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