WAU’s role in fight against COVID-19
03 Jun 2020
Rival Australian automotive heavyweights Walkinshaw Automotive Group and Premcar have combined on creating a response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
WATCH: WALKINSHAW, PREMCAR EXPLAIN CPAP MACHINE
Having gone head-to-head in the performance vehicle market for 25 years, the show of unity has resulted in the engineering and manufacturing of a Constant Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine for Australian patients.
The companies agreed on four key objectives for their mission:
To promote effective solutions for frontline workers, patients and families to combat the spread and implications of the outbreak
To manufacture an approved item that can be used now and into the future
To not choke supply chains by procuring raw materials away from those who have existing tooling for products required in the healthcare industry
To help provide solutions that have little or no impact to current suppliers and assist with repurposing the Australian workforce to build the foundations for economic recovery of the nation
With Australia experiencing a surplus of ventilators, WAG and Premcar set about exploring other avenues to provide treatment at an earlier stage.
“Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we as a business have been looking at the ways in which we could assist,” said WAG director Ryan Walkinshaw.
“The need for a quality CPAP machine in Australia was quickly identified, one that not only assists the patient, but could help in protecting the amazing health care workers, who are already facing enough risk as it stands.
“However, it was essential for us to take our time, and to ensure that an approved product was manufactured.”
The UCL-Ventura CPAP breathing aid has been used extensively in hospitals in Italy and China to help COVID-19 patients with serious respiratory problems to breathe more easily when oxygen via a face mask alone is insufficient.
The patient is able to stay conscious and communicative during the treatment.
A CPAP machine delivers constant and steady air pressure to a patient, ensuring their airway doesn’t collapse, and will be commonly used before a ventilator is required, a last resort treatment.
The UCL-Ventura CPAP machine is manufactured in Australia by Premcar and Walkinshaw Automotive Group, under license from University College London and Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd, who designed the product.
The UCL-Ventura can be manufactured, tested, and distributed at a rate of 1000 units per month. It can assist with the current COVID-19 situation, but also be used in the future.
To add to this, the CPAP device is only one of the items being created, with one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration-certified face shield designs able to be manufactured at a rate of 100,000 per week, repurposing some of the existing production tools across the two businesses.
Walkinshaw hailed the opportunity to work alongside Premcar as “fantastic”.
“Three months ago, you’d never consider working with your biggest rival on a project, but one of the real positives that has come out of this tragedy is the unity between everyone, both locally and globally, to help in any way they can,” he said.
“As automotive companies, turning our joint design, engineering, and production capabilities to assist the pandemic has been an extremely rewarding programme, and one that didn’t require too much thought.
“The engineers and production staff from both organisations have done an incredible job.
“The Australian Government has done a fantastic job in flattening the curve, which has in turn allowed companies across the country to establish solutions and approval for these to go into production.
“It was essential for us to ensure this was completed properly, with the relevant approvals, before speaking publicly on it.”
WAG is the parent company of Holden Special Vehicles – and the Walkinshaw Andretti United team that competes in Supercars – while Premcar have often worked on the Ford side of the brand divide.
