Formulate Mini Factories in Containers to Expand Manufacturing Capabilities in Pandemic
Published on : Wednesday 15-07-2020
Mini factories in containers are a concept primarily commercialize by the Mikron Group, where they offer a 20-foot shipping container that can act as a mobile factory box to initiate the manufacturing of products in the global market with a reduction in the possibility of the high risk of viral contamination of coronavirus.
Mikron’s Mini Factories in Containers System
The formulation of mini-factories in containers is mainly to reduce the dependency on workers' safeties or high investment in the PPE kits or plant frequent sanitization cycle. The Mikron’s system is formed for suitable to install in a 20-foot shipping container, which can also act as a cleanroom. The system is also stated as a mobile factory box, as it can locate near the hospital, shopping center, schools, or home. In addition, the integration of the air-conditioning systems with air purification filters intends to make a chance for the production at the contaminated zones during the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. The company suggested that with adequate raw materials, the system can operate autonomously for over two hours.
“The Mikron’s mini-factory system can minimize the extra need of people for the machine handling and this reduces the spread of coronavirus infection. Also, the system can manufacture protective masks in remote areas or even in crisis zones with high standards set by the regulatory bodies” – Mikron Berlin
For instance, the Mikron’s mini-factory in containers can manufacture over 2 million protective face masks every month with one operational unit. In addition, the mask will be formed from melt-blown non-woven fabric, which uses many layers of fine fibers to prevent the entry of small bacteria and viruses from the air.
According to the Mikron official, there is a requirement of more than 50 million disposable protective face masks per month, that can meet with 25 containers. Moreover, eliminating the need for transport makes the end product less costly. Also, the availability of shrink-wrapped for cleanliness, and packaged in printed bags and boxes along with its high customizable qualities, as it can re-configured to change the setting from one unit to 10 unit at a time are increasing its need in the market to meet the need for PPE kits from the new concept without affecting the spread of the infection.
It is difficult to commercialize the concept of mini-factories in containers by Mikron in the global market. Therefore, the company’s officials using Microsoft HoloLens, which enables commissioning to be done virtually using an interactive 3D projection.
According to many healthcare experts and industry officials, there is always some kind of shortage of protective products in the consumer world owing to the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic. In addition, there is difficult to execute manufacturing operations owing to the fear and concern for the spread of the virus. Through the concept of mini-factories in containers, which reduces human dependency, is primarily creating new opportunities for the healthcare PPE kits manufacturers and manufacturing companies in the global market to change the form of manufacturing in the current pandemic situation to stabilize the manufacturing operations.