Urgent need hybrid production - what COVID-19 can teach us about dislocated production through 3d-printing and the maker scene.

Autor: Hartig S; Helmut Schmidt University, Institute of Production Engineering, Holstenhofweg 85, Hamburg, 22043, Germany. sascha.hartig@hsu-hh.de., Duda S; Hospital of the German Armed Forces, Department of Neurosurgery, Lange Strae 38, Westerstede, 26655, Germany., Hildebrandt L; Helmut Schmidt University, Institute of Production Engineering, Holstenhofweg 85, Hamburg, 22043, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: 3D printing in medicine [3D Print Med] 2020 Dec 07; Vol. 6 (1), pp. 37. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Dec 07.
DOI: 10.1186/s41205-020-00090-5
Abstrakt: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large-scale shutdowns in society. This resulted in global supply bottlenecks for medical protective equipment. The so-called Maker Movement recognized this emerging problem early on and, with the help of additive manufacturing (AM), began developing and manufacturing half masks or face shields as personal protective equipment (PPE). This knowledge has been made available in many places in form of open source product data, so that products could be adapted and improved, saving development time.
Methods: This production and innovation potential has been taken up and professionalized by the authors of this article. By means of a proof-of-principle we provide an overview of the possibility and successful unique introduction of a so-called professional "hybrid production" in a micro factory using 3D-printing at the place of greatest demand in a hospital by medical personnel to produce their own PPE. Furthermore the learning process and future benefits of on site 3D-printing are described.
Results: Our proof-of-principle successfully showed that the allocation of 3D-printing capabilities in the hospital infrastructure is possible. With assistance of the engineers, responsible for product design and development, the medical staff was able to produce PPE by means of AM. However, due to legal uncertainties and high material and production costs the usability is severely limited.
Conclusions: The practical research showed that a complete implementation of the concept and the short-term establishment of a 3D-printing factory for the autonomous supply of a hospital with PPE was not feasible without further efforts. Nevertheless, it has enabled the medical staff to use AM technologies for future research approaches.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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