Car parts supplier Bosch to assist production of 4000 ventilators in Australia for COVD-19

Australian-made ventilators will be produced by a consortium of local manufacturers, then tested by Bosch Australia at their Clayton site in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, not far from the Holden Special Vehicles production facility.

The ventilator assembly process is quite complex, and Drive has come to learn that each individual unit requires the involvement of more than 20 Australian manufacturers.

Other brands involved in the consortium include:

ANCA Group, a worldwide leader in CNC machining that was founded in Victoria,

Hosico Group, a injection-moulding specialist who work with the Australian military, and

Marand Precision Engineering, a firm who were involved in creating production lines for the now-defunct Australian automotive manufacturing sector.

Bosch Australia will be finalising two orders each totalling 2000 ventilators – one batch for the Federal Government and another for the Victorian Government. The orders for the total of 4000 ventilators are worth $1 million.

Bosch Australia has not been involved in production of ventilators before but became involved in the Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program, led by Grey Innovation – a technology commercialisation business supported by the Victorian Government and the Commonwealth-backed Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.

“This consortium shows the strength and skill of the Australian manufacturing sector to be versatile and to work together," Bosch Australia president Gavin Smith said in a media statement.

Grey Innovation has secured the necessary licence from a prominent global manufacturer to develop the ventilators in Australia via the consortium.

Above: Bosch Australia's Clayton team

Many of Bosch’s employees have put their hands up to assist, working extra shifts as well as on weekends in order to meet the time-critical schedule that sees their solutions being delivered by the first week of May, the company said.

Bosch Australia’s Manufacturing Solutions (BAMS) division – a business unit within Bosch’s Clayton facility – will be responsible for manufacturing test equipment to ensure ventilators conform to quality control specifications.

"We are proud to contribute to the highly advanced manufacturing capability in Victoria, and particularly with this project, to help in the fight against COVID-19," Smith added.

A leader in the design and development of special purpose machinery, BAMS is the preferred supplier to the MedTech, Food and Beverage, and Advanced Manufacturing industries.

The Bosch Manufacturing Solutions business also recently announced construction of a new AU$17 million facility to support the expansion of its factory automation business in Australia.

Earlier in the month, Bosch Australia was among more than 1000 Australian companies to offer their services to support the medical industry during the coronavirus.