Face shields before Fortuner: Toyota to support supplier making key medical kit

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced that it is providing support to one of its suppliers in the country to help it manufacture face shields at a quicker pace. Face shields are crucial medical equipment especially required by frontline healthcare workers and medics in their battle against Covid-19 in India.

Toyota said it has started providing its expertise to Stumpp Schuele & Somappa Springs Pvt. Ltd to help significantly enhance the capacity to manufacture face shields for public health workforce and law enforcement agencies in the state of Karnataka.

Stumpp Schuele & Somappa Springs had previously taken the initiative of developing and manufacturing face shields to assist the healthcare department, hospitals, diagnostic centres, among others. Toyota says that while the company was previously manufacturing 250 face shields each day, the partnership has ramped up the number to over 5,500 units daily. The next objective is to take the daily figure to 10,000.

Raju B Ketkale, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, has said that challenging times require collective efforts and that this is the driving force behind the partnership. "Toyota has always supported its supplier partners and when Stumpp Schuele & Somappa Springs Pvt Ltd announced their plans to develop and manufacture face shields for the public health workforce, we joined their initiative to share our best practices in Toyota Production System (TPS) and enhance their manufacturing capacity of face shields in support of their cause," he said.

Car makers are increasingly stepping out of their usual work zones and helping out in the battle against Covid-19. While some are directly or indirectly manufacturing essential medical kits, others are helping in construction of medical facilities, donating money and/or providing ration to those in need.