Deere, in collaboration with the UAW, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, has joined a number of organizations and companies across the country to produce protective face shields for health-care workers in response to the COVID-19 health crisis according to a press release from the company.
Production on the face shields began on April 8, at the John Deere Seeding Group in Moline, Illinois. The company expects to make 25,000 masks during the initial production and has ordered materials to make an additional 200,000.
“Our manufacturing and supply management teams, along with our production and maintenance employees, the UAW and our partners have worked tirelessly to ensure we could lend our support and protect our health-care workers during this crisis,” said John May, Chief Executive Officer, Deere & Company. “By working closely with the communities where our employees live and work, we can help support the needs we’ve identified close to home and, as the project expands, address additional, urgent needs across the country.”