- Up to 18,000 aprons per week to be delivered from Sunderland Plant to the NHS
- Project in response to UK wide request to manufacturers from Royal College of Nursing
SUNDERLAND, UK (April 23rd, 2020) – Nissan has confirmed it will help manufacture thousands of protective aprons for NHS workers.
A team of staff volunteers at the plant took just eight days to design and build a process onsite to manufacture the plastic aprons.
The move follows a request from the Royal College of Nursing, with help from Unite the union to UK manufacturers urging them to use their spare capacity to help meet the unprecedented demand for PPE.
Initial capacity is 18,000 a week but the team has plans to increase this to over 70,000 within weeks.
Nissan Production Director Adam Pennick said: “We are proud to support our healthcare workers wherever we can during this crisis.
“The team at the plant have done an excellent job in creating a production process in such a short space of time. It really highlights the skill and dedication we have in our team at Sunderland Plant.”
Using technical specifications issued by the Government, the team have set up a manual process to make non-sterile grade aprons out of tear resistant polythene. This is being carried out at the Gateshead College Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation, at the plant.
Production started this week and already the plant has 47,000 orders from local NHS trusts.
The project is being carried out in parallel to the plant’s activity to help supply visors to the NHS. As part of that, a team of volunteers created a parts processing line to sort thousands of individual visor parts and pack them in sets of 125 for shipping direct to the NHS, with up to 100,000 being distributed each week.
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For further information please contact:
Dominic Vizor
Product, Brand & Internal Communications Manager, NMGB
Tel: (+44)07580 999016
E: dominic.vizor@nissan.co.uk
https://uk.nissannews.com/en-GB
David Jackson
Communications Director, NMGB
Tel: (+44)07966 878665
E: david.jackson@nissan.co.uk
Ben Guy
Communications Manager, Nissan Sunderland Plant
Tel: (+44)07779 783652
E: ben.guy@nissan-nmuk.co.uk
Lucy Banwell
Press Officer, Nissan Sunderland Plant
Tel: (+44)07743 859930
E: Lucy.Banwell@nissan-nmuk.co.uk
About Nissan in Europe
Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 16,000 staff across locally based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations. In 2019, Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced about 465,000 vehicles including award-winning crossovers, commercial vehicles and the Nissan LEAF. Pursuing a goal of zero emissions and zero fatalities on the road, Nissan is leading the field with its vision of Intelligent Mobility. Designed to guide Nissan’s product and technology pipeline, this 360 degree approach to the future of mobility will anchor critical company decisions around how cars are powered, how cars are driven, and how cars integrate into society.
About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2018, the company sold 5.52 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.6 trillion yen. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia & Oceania; Africa, the Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999 and acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance sold 10.76 million vehicles combined in calendar year 2018.
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