Ineos Teams Up with Herman Miller in the Production of Face Shields for Front Line Medical Staff Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Yet another PP resin supplier that has teamed up with an OEM willing to re-purpose some of their resources to help in the fight against COVID-19 is Houston-based Ineos Olefins & Polymers. The company is donating enough PP resin to office furniture leader Herman Miller, Zeeland, Mich., for the production of injection molded headbands for 20,000 medical face shields. This, in response to the continuing needs of medical services, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities.

The face shields have been designed by a Herman Miller product development senior engineer, and distributed by Herman Miller and Herman Miller Cares—the company’s private foundation and corporate giving program. Widely recognized for its inventive designs, Herman Miller has repurposed resources normally used for its office furniture to make this vital piece of protective equipment for front-line workers using PP made from Ineos.

Said Ineos PP business manager Keisha Benjamin, “Ineos is grateful for the opportunity to join forces with our partners at Herman Miller to provide the much-needed polymer. Although we are starting to see the beginning stages of reopening for some states with decreased levels of COVID-19 infections, the need for these face shields continues to increase as previously postponed surgeries are rescheduled.”

The first of the 20,000 face shields were being delivered by May 20th to Holland Hospital, Holland, Mich., and Mercy Health, Grand Rapids, Mich., just days after completing all required tooling for the project. Near future donations are also slated for Desert Regional Medical Center (San Diego), Kaiser Glendale Medical Center (San Diego), CSI Crime Lab West Covina (San Diego), Mel Trotter Ministries (Grand Rapids), Detroit Receiving Hospital (Detroit), and North Ottawa Hospital (Grand Haven).

Herman Miller Cares plans to distribute the face shields (at no charge to their partnered healthcare organizations) in kits that contain all the individual components. In addition, all components of the face shield are 100% recyclable and reusable, once cleaned after initial use. The company will produce enough shields to facilitate the needs of their partnered organizations and stand ready for additional production should the need arise.

Said Herman Miller Cares Foundation president and executive director Linda Brand, “As we continue to evaluate requests that are coming in, more hospitals, medical facilities, and nonprofits will be added to this list. In the meantime, we are trying to best serve our community by giving priority to places that are otherwise unable to access supply chains effectively and that are directly engaged with COVID-19.”