Agriculture and land maintenance equipment maker Deere & Company announced April 9 that it has — in collaboration with the UAW, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association — started producing protective face shields for healthcare workers in Moline, Illinois.
Employees started production on April 8 at the John Deere Seeding Group in Moline, where its factory manufactures planting equipment and precision agricultural solutions for global customers.
Deere said it expects to produce 25,000 face shields in the initial stages of production and has ordered materials and supplies to provide an additional 200,000.
The first 25,000 face shields will be delivered to 16 U.S. Deere factories in eight states, as well as the company’s U.S. Deere-Hitachi factory for local distribution. Deere said the initial run will help meet the immediate needs of healthcare workers in those communities.
The company is using an open-source design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the project and said it is leveraging expertise, skills, and innovation of its employee base.
Besides those face shields for healthcare, Deere has also produced about 18,000 face shields for its own factory employees’ use and launched a COVID-19 innovations website to share open-source specifications for related projects.