Fiat Chrysler (FCA) started ventilator parts to help Italy’s Siare Engineering boost its output of the medical equipment needed to treat patients during the coronavirus crisis, the automaker said on Friday.
Automakers across the world are increasing production of critical healthcare products and machines to deal with the enormous demand during the pandemic.
Italy, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Europe, had asked Siare to increase its normal monthly production to three times higher as a part of government efforts to boost the amount of intensive care beds.
The automaker said that with the support of luxury group Ferrari and holding company Exor, which controls both automakers, it had produced the first electrovalves, a major part in ventilators, at its plant in Cento, located in northern Italy.
The Cento plant is generally used to produces high-performance auto engines for the global market. It had been shut down because of the coronavirus but has partially restarted for this project.
“With the additional supply of electrovalves from Cento, Siare estimates that it will be able to reduce total production time for ventilators by as much as 30-50%”, the statement included.
In addition to the production of the electrovalves, a group of specialists from FCA is also working together Siare staff at their production facility close to the city of Bologna.
“The objective is to help boost Siare’s total production, with a gradual scaling up of daily output beginning from the first week of April”, FCA said.
About 132,547 people in Italy have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 16,523 people in the country.
