HP New Zealand has announced a collaboration with ShieldsUp, a not for profit community organisation producing plastic face shields.
ShieldsUp has delivered over 13,000 face shields to New Zealand healthcare workers fighting Covid-19.
HP New Zealand has also mobilised its partners, Emirates Team New Zealand and Rodin Cars, to boost the ShieldsUp network. They have offered their HP 3D printers to print components for the shields, accelerating the ShieldsUp community’s production levels.
Oliver Hill, HP New Zealand’s country manager says, “Our partners Emirates Team New Zealand and Rodin Cars have generously agreed to work alongside HP to support ShieldsUp. Together, we have committed to getting more face shields into the hands of New Zealand healthcare workers more quickly.
“We greatly appreciate the selfless commitment healthcare workers make every day by going into work and supporting Kiwis during this unprecedented time. We hope that by assisting the ShieldsUp community with their production levels, we can help more healthcare workers, and their families, feel a little more confident when on the frontline. It is a team effort and we’re proud to be part of this team.”
Volunteers join HP New Zealand
Since launching in late March, ShieldsUp has received more than 16,000 requests for face shields from healthcare workers across New Zealand. That number continues to grow daily. These include GPs, after hours medical clinics, pharmacies, and community health workers. Initially, the face shield production came solely by a network of over 500 3D printer enthusiasts and volunteers from around New Zealand, many of them home based.
With demand growing rapidly, HP New Zealand and its partners joined the ShieldsUp community to provide materials needed. Matt Carter, ShieldsUp medical consultant says, “With HP and its partners working alongside our 500 strong volunteer community, we have been able to significantly increase our daily production. This will help to achieve our objective of delivering critical protection to our front line medical and emergency workers.
“We continue to see high demand for face shields within the health sector, which we are now assessing alongside new requests from other industries. They are considering how they can protect their staff as workplaces look to re-open under alert level three.”
HP says that 3D printing the components on commercial machines allows for the manufacture of consistent and durable products at speed by its partners. Grant Dalton, chief executive at Emirates Team New Zealand, says, “We are delighted to help ShieldsUp, which is a great example of kiwi innovation and community spirit in action. As a team, we know the immense value of support from New Zealand when you really need it. So, to do our small bit to help the frontline healthcare workers is really an honour.”
David Dicker, founder of Rodin Cars and chief executive at Dicker Data, says, “Our team is very proud to be part of the ShieldsUp community. It is an honour to support front line workers, utilising our HP 3D printer to assist in the delivery of these much needed shields.”
