Midwest Engineered Systems joins COVID-19 outbreak fight with GE Healthcare

Midwest Engineered Systems (MWES) has partnered with GE Healthcare to help build ventilators faster for those in need. GE tapped the firm to help expand their production capacity after hearing of its successes in automating the manufacturing of precision valves for GE’s turbine engine division.

One area where MWES has been asked to help immediately is in mitigating component testing bottlenecks. The company is building eight calibration stations for the control valves necessary to run the ventilators. The new test machines duplicate and expand GE’s current capability in configuring the components, giving the firm far greater production capacity for lifesaving ventilators.

“We know there’s a lot at stake,” states Scott Woida, president of MWES, “The company is sparing no resource in accomplishing our goal of helping GE save lives.”

The MWES team has been working hard locating compatible parts and pushing vendors to get valuable components necessary for the building of these units as quickly as possible. At the same time, MWES has gone the extra mile in working to specify and replace obsolete components, modernizing the systems as they go to increase performance and reliability. Knowing that time is of the essence, Midwest has already begun delivering the equipment to GE.

In a further effort to increase production right now, MWES is streamlining one of GE’s manual ventilator production lines. By adding a variety of time-saving functions to the current line, the company believes it can help get badly needed ventilators into the field at a far quicker pace through increased process efficiency.

The current manual assembly line at GE is running round the clock to produce as many ventilator valves as it can. The updated manual assembly line, after MWES has completed its upgrades, will be able to double ventilator valve production while using less shifts.

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“We’ve already moved past the brainstorming and planning phases. We’re buying components, cutting parts and moving as fast as we can,” says Peter Gratschmayr, VP sales and marketing, “The goal is to have all these systems in place in less than a month. People need help now.”

Midwest Engineered Systems Inc. (MWES) is an innovator and leader in complex production systems integration for over 27 years. From small stand-alone systems to large-scale turn-key production lines, MWES custom designs, builds and services automation systems for our customers’ specialized needs. The company’s diverse industry base includes some of the largest manufacturing companies not only in the Midwest, but across the globe. MWES’s extensive industry experience, broad range of product knowledge, and customer-focused approach has made it a leading automation integration supplier with a solid reputation for quality, service, and value.