Rashmi Rare Earth (RREL), the electronics manufacturing unit of a multi-dimensional business conglomerate, is going to initiate production of surgical masks to support the Indian government’s fight against the COVID-19 global pandemic.
To cater to the demands of the medical industry, RREL will commence manufacturing masks by mid-April. In its initial days, the company aims to produce 6,000 surgical masks per hour which can be ramped to 18,000 masks per hour within April by installing three production lines.
With quality and credibility as its core value propositions, RREL will put to use a fully automatic and integrated surgical mask manufacturing unit, which would be India’s most advanced production line thus far. The production unit will mechanically manufacture the mask body moulding with automatic nose bridge reinforcement and ear band welding, ensuring limited human contact. High production efficiency and good hardware configuration of the unit enables it to produce 1.2 lakh surgical mask per day.
In addition to manufacturing triple-layer surgical masks, RREL is also in the process to commence production of N-95 masks, along with thermopile and infrared temperature sensors. Thermopile infrared non-contact temperature measurement sensors are the need of the hour, as preliminary signs of COVID-19 include a high temperature and early detection through such devices can save lives. RREL will start production of N 95 masks and thermopile infrared temperature sensory by April end. Supporting ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government, a major chunk of raw materials will be sourced domestically and some essentials might be imported.
Commenting on this Sunil Kumar Patwari, CEO of Rashmi Rare Earth Limited said, “In light of the current dearth of essential medical commodities to fight against COVID-19, we are doing out bit by setting up these facilities keeping in mind the urgent requirement of the country. Utilising the already existing space, ready set up and available manpower at our facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh we should be able to produce essential medical masks at an accelerated speed; owing to the top of the line machinery that we are putting in place. We are also ensuring that we follow the government directives and protocols to the ‘T’ and thus our process of production will also entail limited human interaction. RREL has adequate space, capital and all the necessary infrastructure and expertise to produce 1 million masks by June 2020.”
He further adds, “Indian authorities are undertaking all the required measures to remove any hindrances in the process setting up medical equipment facilities necessary to fight against COVID-19. However, creating a special empowered committee for COVID-19 under Defence Regulation-1 to enable the government to provision itself without the usual multi-step procurement chain and certification. This can be used for production and stocking up of PPE items.”
The masks manufactured will be supplied to central and state governments, medical distribution channels and hospitals to overcome the existing shortage.
