COVID-19 has brought chaos across the globe, causing supply shortages of medical resources, during a time where demand is at an all time high. According to IHS Markit “International trade in crucial COVID related medical supplies touched $188 billion during 1Q20, registering a growth of 12%”. With demand increasing while businesses are closed due to nationwide lockdowns, the ability to manufacture and produce such quantities has added huge strain to the market.
The nasopharyngeal (NP) swab which is used for all COVID-19 testing to extract viral material from the nasal cavity, is just one example where very few companies manufactured commercially. Due to the global shortage, Henkel decided to team up with Origin to create a new swab that could be 3D printed to scale.
This innovative method streamlines the production process from having to manufacture multiple components that will later be adjoined prior to sterilisation and packaging.
Ken Kisner, Head of Innovation – 3D Printing at Henkel says: “From inception, the vision behind Henkel’s Open Materials Platform was to enable collaboration all along additive manufacturing’s value chain”. “Working together with Origin, we were able to develop a product which is very effective as its mass-produced counterparts. With the constraints commercial medical suppliers are facing, this presents a significant opportunity for the 3D printing industry to demonstrate its capabilities, beyond prototyping.”
Chris Prucha, Founder & CEO at Origin, “By working collaboratively and utilizing each other’s technologies, we identified, optimized and scaled the manufacturing process to bring an application to market extremely fast”.
This forward-thinking approach demonstrates Henkel’s motivations for product excellence and innovation. Which is reflected across all areas of the business including their latest range of ECO renewable adhesives, leading the market with the latest technology to create a green and more circular economy for consumer packaging.
