JLR begins delivery of 3D-printed medical visors

JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) has announced it has begun deploying the first of its face shields manufactured to help in the fight against the COVID-19 virus, while also rolling out additional vehicles to be used by frontline medical personnel.

The face shields have been developed in conjunction with the British National Health Service (NHS) and are being produced at JLR’s Advanced Product Creation Centre in Gaydon, with around 1300 units being produced per week.

The visors have been designed to be reusable, and have gone into production after a range of prototypes were tested in under a week, with speedy the research able to be done thanks to JLR’s rapid prototype 3D printing equipment.

Chemically resistant polycarbonate is used for the shields, while the top caps are made “using state-of-the-art laser sintering, jet fusion and FDM processes”, according to JLR.

A replaceable elastic strap holds everything in place, giving the JLR visors a similar construction to the ones currently being developed and tested by Ford Australia at its Broadmeadows facility.

Discussions are currently underway with suppliers, with JLR hopeful of achieving an eventual production rate of up to 5000 units per week.

The British manufacturer has also announced it is expanding its global fleet of vehicles being deployed to the Red Cross and other organisations, with an extra 150 vehicles bringing its combined number to 312.

The vehicles will be used to provide support such as medicine and food deliveries, patient transport for those going to and from hospital and other transport needs.

210 of those vehicles have been employed in Britain, with 164 going to the British Red Cross and 46 to other frontline services.

Australia actually has the second largest fleet of JLR vehicles at 28, all of which have gone to the Australian Red Cross.

The others have been deployed to various markets including Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany and Belgium.

JLR customer experience director Finbar McFall said the unprecedented nature of the crisis meant the brand’s partnership with the Red Cross had never been more important.

“In our 65-year partnership with the Red Cross we have never experienced a crisis on this scale,” he said.

“It’s reassuring to see how our combined efforts are really making a difference, helping the most vulnerable during this global pandemic.”

British Red Cross head of crisis response Simon Lewis said the extra vehicles were greatly appreciated.

“We are extremely grateful to be receiving another 105 Land Rover vehicles which will mean we are able to reach more people through our programmes than possible before,” he said.

“We’re using these vehicles to provide practical support, for example delivering regular food and medical supplies and providing patient transport to help people get to and from urgent hospital appointments.”