Honda lends manufacturing might to ventilator parts—Covid-19 roundup for May 8

Automaker Honda of America has teamed up with Pennsylvania-based pump maker Dynaflo Inc. to produce and deliver critical components for the production of ventilators that are needed in hospitals and by first responders throughout the country to help those stricken with Covid-19.

Honda has transformed a 6,000-square foot area of its Technical Development Center in Marysville, Ohio, into a space for employees to assemble the diaphragm compressors, which are a key component of portable ventilators. The companies are aiming to produce 10,000 compressors per month once production reaches capacity, and continue that pace through the end of August. That will mark a steep jump from Dynaflo’s previous production rate of about 300 compressors per month.

The two companies began working together because both had partnered with Stop the Spread, a coalition of more than 1,500 volunteer CEOs working to catalyze actions and support the government response to the pandemic.

"Being connected to Honda of America has been a Godsend," William Fleming, president of Dynaflo, said in a release. "Combining our diaphragm compressor technology with Honda's expertise in mass production is a perfect combination to help meet the needs of this crisis.”

And in other examples of the logistics industry dedicating its assets to the coronavirus fight:

• Ceva Logistics has designed a truck-rail-truck (TRT) solution to keep customers’ freight moving across Asia during the Covid-19 crisis, saying the approach prevents long waits at border crossings. The multi-modal solution is available for customers in Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand who are sourcing goods from China, and can save up to four days of waiting time as traffic jams increase at national borders due to the pandemic, the company said. “With our TRT solution, serious traffic jams at the border crossings can be avoided,” Guillaume Col, Ceva Logistics’ chief operating officer, said in a release. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, it really is the best solution for customers wishing to move urgent shipments between China and Southeast Asia. As a pioneer in TRT service, we will keep exploring our Road & Rail network between China and Southeast Asia to further develop these services.”
• Hong Kong-based logistics and transportation company Tigers has launched a dedicated section on its e-shop to manage spiking demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), powered by its freight portal SmartHub:Connect. In another move, the firm has also released new software updates for SmartHub:Connect, giving customers shortcuts to buy and process documentation for the shipment of PPE. Tigers’ IT partner Doozee has introduced a new module to its instant quote engine which caters to volumetric traffic, enabling Tigers to provide instant quotes for the shipment of PPE. “The freight industry has been working hard to help move medical and personal protective equipment to where it is desperately needed, in the face of a shipping landscape that changes multiple times a day,” Doozee Founder Scott Deerwester said in a release. “We have responded to that by developing and releasing features that we are confident will make life easier.”
• Truck scale management software vendor TruckPay Inc. has won a patent for a product that enables drivers to weigh their loads from their smart devices, this avoiding physical contact and reducing the spread of coronavirus. The Tenafly, New Jersey-based firm said its MyTruckScales product allows truck drivers to receive weighment tickets on their smartphones or tablets, while staying safely in the comfort of their trucks. E-tickets are then automatically emailed to the driver, scale owners, and customers to confirm the weighments and provide electronic payment processing. "We are incredibly proud to have received a patent for MyTruckScales, as it is a win-win for everyone,” TruckPay CEO and President Barry Honig said in a release. “In this time of the coronavirus, we could not be happier to relieve drivers from the risk of touching kiosks and other commonly used surfaces at scale houses and eliminating the need to pass paper tickets to scale-house attendants and to customers. Reducing the chance of spreading the virus couldn't be more important.”
• Beer maker Sierra Nevada Brewing has donated some of its food laboratory resources in Chico, California, to making a critical component used in tests for detecting Covid-19 infections. Sierra Nevada is using its quality assurance lab—usually dedicated to testing beer for unwanted bacteria and wild yeast—to creating the “viral transport medium” that is in short supply for enabling coronavirus tests. The medium is used to protect the swab that doctors dab in patients’ nostrils, while it is transferred to a medical lab. In this case, the beer maker has already delivered 1,000 vials of the liquid to California’s Enloe Medical Center, and is planning to make up to 10,000 more.

To see further coverage of the coronavirus crisis and how it's affecting the logistics industry, check out our Covid-19 landing page. And click here for our compilation of virus-focused websites and resource pages from around the supply chain sector.

We’re so pleased and honored to help in any way that we can. Thank you @Enloe for all that you do, and thank you @USATODAY and @MikeSnider for the coverage! https://t.co/208ayWB1az

— Sierra Nevada Beer (@SierraNevada) May 5, 2020