Coronavirus Pandemic: Ashok Leyland To Make Ventilators For COVID-19 Patients

Ashok Leyland has announced venturing into ventilator production and distribution to help treat COVID-19 patients in India. The company says that it was approached by the Government of India and Tamil Nadu to work with and support ventilator makers and help them improve supply chain and production of ventilators. However, instead of working with just one party or on one product, the company has decided to take a holistic approach and offer the complete range of breathing apparatus that is required for patients at different stages of coronavirus disease progression.

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The company will be working on offering three different kinds of ventilators - first-mile, mid-range and high-end ICU ventilators. The automaker says that currently, there is no ready solution available for relevant first-mile ventilation. To address this problem, 50 Ashok Leyland engineers have been working for over a month and have now readied a simple yet intelligent ventilator that is cost-effective but comes with all the essential features to aid First Mile ventilation. The company has completed the development process, while the testing, certification and clinical trials will conclude in the next few weeks, before starting mass production.

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Ashok Leyland is working on offering offering three different kinds of ventilators - first-mile, mid-range and high-end ICU ventilators

Commenting on the initiative, Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, Ashok Leyland, said, "Our Sourcing and Engineering teams have been working 24X7 on these three projects. We are humbled that our efforts in developing these ventilators and support to Ventilator makers, will help the Government to prepare themselves for the future needs of people needing ventilator care."

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As for the mid-range and high-end ICU ventilators, Ashok Leyland is working with two Chennai based Ventilator manufacturers viz. Kriti Kare India and Phoenix Medical Systems who make infant, maternal care products, assistive devices, and have developed an adult ventilator. Under the arrangement with these two companies, Ashok Leyland will help with component sourcing, supply chain, logistics, manpower for production planning and in line-quality, to overcome the challenge of large-scale production in a short duration of time.

Commenting on the ventilator initiatives, N. Saravanan, CTO, Ashok Leyland, said, "With this holistic approach, covering all aspects of patient ventilation, we are able to best utilise our strengths across functions, to make our contribution and help fight the battle against Covid-19. The idea is to offer lean and rapid support as the nation builds its capacities for supporting different patients in various stages of Covid-19, with relevant solutions."