May 2020
will become part of the US
Strategic National Stockpile and
will be distributed by the FEMA
Movement Control Team to
health care facilities nationwide.
Learn more at dupont.com.
Amway Moves at
Light Speed to Halt
COVID-19 Spread
In a continuing effort to
help people live better, healthier
lives and combat the spread of
COVID-19, West Michigan’s
Amway responded to an urgent
request from Spectrum Health
System for hand sanitizer to
protect health care providers and
first responders — all at no cost
to local hospitals.
Named Project Light Speed,
the initiative saw an action plan
to produce tens of thousands of
Amway hand sanitizer developed
in under 24 hours.
“Our team designed and built
new filling equipment, printed
labels, produced bottles and
expedited raw materials from all
over to make this happen so
quickly, and they’ve done it with
tremendous enthusiasm, which
doesn’t surprise me one bit,” said
George Calvert, Amway chief supply
chain officer. “Helping others has
always been part of Amway’s
culture and we need to support
each other and our communities
now more than ever.”
Amway reported that additional
batches of Amway hand sanitizer
will be sent to local hospitals outside
of Spectrum’s network and
Kids Food Basket, a longtime
local partner that works to end
childhood hunger.
“I am so impressed with the
fast, hard work of the Amway team
to make this project a success. It
is inspiring to see that across our
enterprise, employees are energized
and unified to make good things
happen within their communities,”
said Amway CEO Milind Pant.
“It is inspiring to see that across our
company, employees are unified to
support our communities during
this unprecedented situation.”
Lear Publishes Interactive
Safe Work Playbook to
Help Industry Response
COVID-19 remains a threat
to every manufacturer in Michigan
and most don’t have the resources
to take on every challenge emerging
from this global pandemic. Lear
Corporation has developed its Safe
Work Playbook to help all employers
locate the resources they need to
perform their crucial production
in a safe, responsible manner.
Businesses that have been
providing essential services and
MiMfg Magazine
Got Good News?
Share your company’s news with
MMA. Send your photos, press
releases and good news to MMA’s
Brett Gerrish at [email protected].
continuing to operate during the
COVID-19 pandemic may
particularly benefit from the
content. The interactive guide
offers potentially helpful practices
for health and safety procedures,
cross-functional teamwork,
operating discipline and training
for employees in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“We created this Safe Work
Playbook to proactively address
the unique challenges of resuming
our operations, when it is safe to
do so, following an extended work
stoppage caused by COVID-19,”
said Lear President & CEO Ray
Scott. “Tapping our global
Operations, Human Resources,
Employee Health and Safety,
Information Technology, and
Communications teams, the
playbook lays out processes to
raise awareness of new health
and well-being protocols.”
The Safe Work Playbook will
continue to be modified with the
times and can be downloaded in
various formats by companies of
all sizes across industries from
lear.com.
6
GM Shares Face Mask Production Plans
Based on the overwhelming
number of requests for face masks
for frontline workers, GM is
increasing production capacity at
its Warren facility and has shared
mask blueprints with both suppliers
and the MMA to help others ramp
up their own production efforts.
The Warren facility can now
produce up to 1.5 million face
masks a month, is delivering
regularly to local hospitals and is
adding two additional production
lines for face masks and filtering
facepiece respirators.
“Our ultimate goal is to get more
masks to the people who desperately
need them,” said Shilpan Amin, GM
vice president of global purchasing
and supply chain. “And we recognize
it would be counterproductive for
GM — or any other manufacturer —
to compete for supplies with existing
medical mask companies. By making
GM’s production processes available
to the OESA and the MMA, we
hope to facilitate other companies’
efforts to bring more materials, more
equipment and, ultimately, more
face masks to the community.”
“GM’s production plans and
their willingness to share design
specifications will be extremely
appreciated as our members
accelerate their own efforts to
help during this crisis,” said MMA
President & CEO John Walsh.
“GM’s efforts are a strong symbol
of how manufacturing is driving
solutions to solve this crisis.”
Learn more about GM’s
efforts to combat COVID-19 at
gm.com/coronavirus.html. Get
information on the mask design
at mimfg.org/covid-19 .
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