Proton has started its production of face shields for medical frontliners which are an essential component of their personal protection equipment (PPE). The first batch of 8,000 face shields will be shipped out today to hospitals in Kelantan followed by other east coast states.
According to Proton, they have 50 people picked from a pool of volunteers to work on the face shield assembly line in their plant in Shah Alam. This involves cutting various components required before assembling the final product. They added that up to 3,000 units can be produced per day and they are aiming to produce 60,000 units in 20 days.
Apart from Proton, their vendor community has also contributed to the face shield assembly effort. Pos Logistics Sdn Bhd has contributed over 2,000 large carton boxes that will be used to transport the items. Meanwhile, HICOM-Teck See Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn Bhd has contributed 1,500kg of polypropylene, which is one of the main components used in car bumpers to produce the frame of the face shields.
Proton added that the original design for the face shield was contributed by University Teknologi MARA (UITM). Proton Design designers then developed the frame based on feedback from end-users and have added a motivational slogan “STAY STRONG! We will get through this!”.
According to Proton Deputy CEO, Dato Radzaif Mohamed, “Proton is humbled by the response received both internally and outside of the company to our face shield project. The number of staff volunteering their services was overwhelming, despite inherent risks involved in leaving home and coming to work.”
“At the same time, PROTON also reached out to our vendor community to get them involved and the response has been heart-warming. Malaysia’s automotive sector has the capability and desire to contribute to the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and hopefully, we can do more in the coming weeks and months to help break the chain of infection,” he added.
