Health technology company Royal Philips has increased production of certain critical care products and solutions that help diagnose and treat patients with coronavirus disease.
The current pandemic has significantly upped the demand for patient vital signs monitors and portable ventilators and medical consumables for non-invasive and invasive ventilation to treat a broad range of respiratory conditions.
Earlier in March, Philips announced that it was ramping up the production of hospital ventilators. It also plans to double production within the next eight weeks and achieve a four-fold increase by the third quarter of 2020.
The company is mobilizing its global supplier network to step up support and production. Philips has a global manufacturing footprint with final assembly sites in North America, Europe, and Asia. It also has a global network of certified materials and component suppliers.
In line with the recent call to action by the International Chamber of Commerce and World Health Organization, Philips is also calling on governments to facilitate enhanced access to critical materials and components by not imposing restrictions such as export controls and tariffs, and to provide help to accelerate logistics, as well as exemptions for critical suppliers from lockdown measures.
“There is an unprecedented global demand for medical equipment to help diagnose and treat patients with COVID-19. We are working around the clock to double our hospital ventilator production within the next eight weeks,” said Frans van Houten, chief executive officer of Royal Philips.
In its effort to cater to the demand for more critical health technology products, the company has hired additional manufacturing employees, added manufacturing lines, and increased number of shifts to 24/7.
Further, Philips is working closely with its suppliers to secure materials supply, leveraging innovation capabilities to re-purpose adjacent product ranges to address the increased demand, and engaging with third party contract manufacturers.