China is the world’s biggest face mask producer but it can’t keep up with increased demand for the product amid the Coronavirus pandemic. The same goes for hand sanitizer and protective clothing for medical personnel.
As the spread of COVID-19, the new Coronavirus that seems to have originated in Wuhan, China, is currently prompting state of emergency declarations in several European countries and the U.S., several major companies in China are reconfiguring their business to meet the boom in demand for medical-grade equipment. Carmakers included.
BYD Co, China’s largest electric car maker (through its division BYD Auto) and a top company making anything from EV batteries to e-bikes, cellphones, buses and forklifts, to trucks and semiconductors, is now focusing on making protection equipment. In fact, efforts in this direction have proven so successful that it now claims the title of world’s biggest face mask maker.
The accomplishment was touted in a press release from last week (which you can see in full below), but Bloomberg seems to hint taking it with a grain of salt since the company isn’t offering details on what type of face masks they’re making or include numbers from direct competitors. Still, it’s an achievement that speaks to China’s status as manufacturing powerhouse.
BYD President Wang Chuanfu led a team of 3,000 engineers that saw them build production lines using in-house components, out of the line in the Longgang district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, previously used to make high-end cellphones. In less than 3 months, they recorded impressive progress, meeting the high standards needed for making medical-grade equipment and being able to make the much needed products in a considerably shorter time.
Currently, BYD is making 5 million masks and 300,000 bottles of hand disinfectant a day, which are then shipped all across China to meet the shortage supply. It’s also making five to ten new mask-producing machines every single day.
BYD Co, China’s largest electric car maker (through its division BYD Auto) and a top company making anything from EV batteries to e-bikes, cellphones, buses and forklifts, to trucks and semiconductors, is now focusing on making protection equipment. In fact, efforts in this direction have proven so successful that it now claims the title of world’s biggest face mask maker.
The accomplishment was touted in a press release from last week (which you can see in full below), but Bloomberg seems to hint taking it with a grain of salt since the company isn’t offering details on what type of face masks they’re making or include numbers from direct competitors. Still, it’s an achievement that speaks to China’s status as manufacturing powerhouse.
BYD President Wang Chuanfu led a team of 3,000 engineers that saw them build production lines using in-house components, out of the line in the Longgang district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, previously used to make high-end cellphones. In less than 3 months, they recorded impressive progress, meeting the high standards needed for making medical-grade equipment and being able to make the much needed products in a considerably shorter time.
Currently, BYD is making 5 million masks and 300,000 bottles of hand disinfectant a day, which are then shipped all across China to meet the shortage supply. It’s also making five to ten new mask-producing machines every single day.