MOUNT PLEASANT — Foxconn and Medtronic are teaming up in hopes of producing 10,000 ventilators over the next year to help the fight against COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
The Medtronic Puritan Bennett 560 ventilators will be produced at Foxconn’s Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Mount Pleasant, while Medtronic will market and sell the devices.
“No single company can meet the current demands for ventilators that are critical in the fight against COVID-19. Joining together with Foxconn immediately increases our production capacity to meet the increased demand and creates a flexible manufacturing model for us,” said Vafa Jamali, senior vice president and president of the Respiratory, Respiratory, Gastrointestinal and Informatics business at Medtronic.
“Foxconn’s flexibility to quickly react to global markets makes opportunities with partners like this possible,” said Foo-Ming Fu, CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet Wisconsin. “ In the last two months, we went from zero ventilator manufacturing capabilities to a tested, qualified ventilator manufacturing cell.”
If needed, Medtronic and Foxconn can increase their production capacity to more than double the current Foxconn ventilator commitment, depending on the demand.